


Kingdom Hearts: Summer of Shadows

by The_Pyromancer



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 14:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13813077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pyromancer/pseuds/The_Pyromancer
Summary: Aqua couldn't ask for more beyond spending summer break with her best friends. Even the nearing end of summer can't dampen her spirits, not with events like a trip to Disney World, the beach and the annual Struggle Tournament to look forward to. Except the strange dreams she's been having lately. Dreams that suggest things aren't as they seem. Dreams that tell of the end of it all.





	1. 1st Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

_All around her was a room, the walls a pure, blinding white except for papers with crayon drawings on them that were affixed to sections of the wall in what looked to be a completely random fashion. The room was sparsely furnished, a white bed against one wall and a white table with drawing materials in the center of the room. She walked towards the table and her gaze fell right on a closed sketch pad. She reached out with a delicate, pale hand and flipped it open. On the first page was a crayon drawing of three friends, two young men and a young woman, sitting on the edge of a cliff watching the stars; a shooting star crossing the page. She heard a young girl's voice in her head._

" _Terra…Ventus…," said the voice, listing off what she recognized as names. The voice paused briefly before saying the last name. "…"_

* * *

**1st** **Day**

* * *

"Aqua!"

Aqua woke up in bed, the covers flying off of her as she sat up suddenly. She looked around and saw her best friend, Terra staring down at her in surprise.

"What?" asked Aqua groggily. Terra was tall, very tall and had the muscles to go with it. The perks of being the star on the kendo team. He had short, spikey brown hair and intense blue eyes that always looked angry, except to people that knew the gentle heart that rested behind them. He had on an apron and she could smell a variety of breakfast smells wafting into her room. She didn't know when it had started that Terra did the cooking for everyone but he was definitely good at it.

"I woke you up an hour ago to ask if you wanted me to make you breakfast, don't you remember?" asked Terra, trying to look stern but Aqua could see that he was really just amused and teasing her, like usual. "You said yes and that you'd be up in a minute."

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly. Sleep was still clinging to her slightly, fogging her mind, but she figured some breakfast would help. Something was nagging at her though and she racked her mind to remember what it was. Then something clicked, she had gone to sleep in only her underwear. She picked up one of the many pillows that surrounded her, she liked to sleep in comfort after all, and threw it as hard as she could at Terra's head. "Get out while I change you pervert!"

"Sorry!" yelled Terra, fleeing the room from the rain of pillows. She heard laughter from outside the room before Terra closed the door behind him.

With a sigh Aqua threw off the last of the covers and jumped out of bed. She worked automatically, walking into the bathroom conjoined to her room and turning on the shower. She enjoyed the feel of the hot water on her skin and washed quickly, not wanting her breakfast to get cold. Turning off the water she dried off and hung the towel on the wall. She decided to dress pretty normally in a light blue t-shirt and blue jeans. Satisfied, and slightly more awake now, Aqua opened up her bedroom door.

In the living room Aqua saw Terra wrestling with their other housemate, Ventus. Terra had Ventus pinned to the ground but they both had large smiles on their faces. Ventus, Ven as they usually called him, had dirty blonde hair that stuck up all over the place, no matter what he tried to do with it. He'd been good friends with Terra and Aqua for a long time and when his guardian had needed to go out of country for an extended period of time, Ven had moved in with them so that he could finish high school. Terra and Aqua were attending college but were currently on summer vacation. This led to Aqua sleeping in late, much like today.

"What's the fight over today?" asked Aqua, smiling at her friends. The two boys looked up at her, Ven with a mischievous smile and Terra like he'd been caught misbehaving.

"Nothing," replied Terra.

"Over how he was sneaking a peek on you!" laughed Ven.

"I did not!" insisted Terra, tightening his hold on Ven. The boy just started to laugh even harder.

Aqua just gave a sigh. "I'll forgive you this time Terra, just make sure you knock next time, please?"

"I did knock!" replied Terra. "You never wake up when I do. Couldn't you just sleep with clothes or pajamas or something?"

"Told you he took a peek!" interrupted Ven.

"Aqua couldn't help but smile. "Fine," she said. "I'll try to wake up earlier next time. Now, have you two eaten yet?"

"Not yet," replied Ventus. "We were waiting for you."

"Thanks," said Aqua. "Want to get off the floor now?"

"Got it," said Terra, releasing Ventus. As soon as he did Ventus was up and on his feet, moving as quickly as usual. They all sat down and ate the food Terra had made. Aqua was always glad to eat his food, he was a good cook. When they were done, Aqua and Ven worked together to clean up the rather large mess Terra had made in the kitchen. When they were done, it was time to get down to business.

"So," said Terra, looking across the table at his friends. "There's only two weeks left for summer vacation."

"For you!" interrupted Ventus. "I've only got seven days left to enjoy!"

"Which is why it's even more important that we get this done today," said Terra. "We need to go to the mall and get you some new clothes for school, you're growing out of all your old clothes. Soon you'll look like a cartoon character if you continue to wear the same clothes!"

"But I like my clothes!" protested Ven.

"Then we'll just try to get something similar," comforted Aqua. "And you don't know, maybe you'll find something cool at the mall and want to wear that!"

"Fine…," said Ven.

The three friends walked to the train station, hardly anyone drove a car in Twilight Town due to the great transportation system, and took a train into the downtown area. The mall was a huge building that was almost like a town encased in glass. There was definitely enough people inside already to make up a whole town. After passing several stores that they suggested shopping at to Ven, and being told he didn't feel like it, they finally arrived at the same clothing store that Ven did all of his shopping at. Aqua and Terra would point out clothes that they thought would look good on Ven, loading his arms up with a large stack of clothes to try on.

While Terra led Ven to the changing rooms to try to clothes on, Aqua went and browsed the accessories the store had in stock. Browsing down the aisle she saw pendants of many varieties including crowns, hearts, Mickey Mouse heads and a large variety of nonsense shapes that still managed to look rather cool. She didn't find anything that excited her walking down the aisle so she started to walk back up towards where Terra and Ven were. Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and she turned to look. In between the heart pendants and the crown pendants she saw three brightly colored five pointed stars, one orange, one green and the last blue. She studied them, fascinated by the simple designs that were none the less eye catching. She didn't remember seeing them on her way down, which seemed weird with how much they stood out. Either way she picked up all three and walked back to her friends.

Terra and Ventus were done trying on clothes, a now much smaller pile of clothes in their hands. Together they went to the check-out counter, Terra buying the clothes for Ven. Ven's guardian sent quite a bit of munny every month for Ven's living expenses, but Terra and Aqua would have taken him in even without the compensation. As the clothes were being packed into a bag Aqua bought the three star pendants with her own munny, drawing a questioning look from her two friends.

"What're those?" asked Terra.

"Pendants I found while browsing!" said Aqua, holding them out to show her friends. "I found three; each in a different color and thought we could each keep one, as a sign of our connections to each other."

"These are so cool!" said Ven, grabbing the green one up and staring at it as if he'd never seen anything quite like it before.

Terra was slightly more muted in his response but he took the orange one, also staring at it as if fixated. He looked up after a moment and smiled at Aqua. "These are perfect."

The three friends held the pendants out next to each other, forming a type of triangle. They exchanged bright smiles and Aqua could feel in her heart that the three would be connected for the rest of their lives, no matter what happened.


	2. 2nd Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

_Flipping the page from the three friends she saw a new group of three friends. Again there were two guys and a girl, much younger than the three before. These three were sitting on a tree that had curved and grown almost parallel to the ground. The sky was bright, a clear day, the background a sea, the scene apparently taking place on an island. In the branches of the strange tree were several large yellow fruits shaped like five pointed stars. She felt like she had met these three before, but they had looked different then…much younger. Once again she heard the girl's voice in her head._

" _This is where it all started over," said the voice. "A journey that would affect all the worlds. A journey to save all the worlds. A journey to save those who were lost. It all starts with Riku, Sora and Kairi…"_

* * *

**2nd** **Day**

* * *

"Let's go to Disney World!" said Ventus suddenly, surprising both Aqua and Terra. Terra looked incredulously at their friend.

"We don't have any munny," he said.

"We have plenty!" insisted Ven.

"That's all set aside for living expenses," said Terra. "We can't use it for this."

"Aw…" said Ven, visibly deflating from his earlier enthusiasm.

"Why don't we go to the beach instead?" supplied Aqua. "We can even get some quick jobs, someone is always hiring during this period of time. This way we get to go somewhere and we don't spend our savings."

"Yeah!" said Ven. "Let's do it!"

"Makes sense," agreed Terra. "We'll need munny for the train ride, so that'll be 3000 munny."

"We also need to get some watermelon!" said Ven. "And other snacks!"

"Then we'll need more than 3000. Let's see…How about we get 5000 munny for the trip? Between the three of us that shouldn't take too long."

"We'll work for several hours and then meet up at the station a little after noon," said Aqua, getting excited for the trip. Her friends smiled at her and she saw on their belts that they were wearing the pendants she'd gotten them the day before. Her own pendant was on a chain around her neck.

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Terra, belaying his own excitement. "Let's get working."

"The person who makes the most gets first choice of snacks!" said Ven.

They separated at that point, each going off to make some munny as fast as they could. Aqua went off and saw a sign asking for help putting up signs for an upcoming tournament. Terra and Ven were planning on participating and kept insisting she join also. She wasn't a fighter though so she had to keep declining, noting that she'd probably get knocked out quickly in the first round. She ran all over the Tram Commons, slapping signs onto the walls as quickly as she could. While she did so she caught the brief sight of Ven on a skateboard going all across town and handing mail to people. At one point she passed an alley and saw terra using a club to break apart piles of junk to make them easier to dispose. The time flew by and instead of getting tired Aqua was just getting more and more excited for the trip to the beach. Soon she had 2000 munny, probably more than enough to pay for her share of the trip. It was almost noon, only a few minutes before they were supposed to meet.

Aqua started to run across the Tram Commons and saw the skateboard that Ven had been using just lying around. She hopped on the skateboard and rode it quickly through town, even grinding on a rail at one point. Soon she made it up to Station Heights where she saw Terra and Ven standing around, waiting for her. They waved as they saw her approach and she waved back. Suddenly the shadows in front of her darkened and expanded unnaturally. Moving on instinct Aqua tried to swerve to avoid the shadows but her front wheel caught in the shadows somehow and her board seemed to tilt into the ground. She flew forward off the board, turning and skidding on her right shoulder and arm.

"Aqua!" yelled Terra and Ven at the same time, running over to her. Her arm felt hot and as they helped her off the ground she saw that she'd skinned a large section of her arm. She winced slightly in pain as her arm was exposed to the air.

"We need to get you to the hospital and make sure you're fine," said Terra, looking at her with concern.

"But, the beach," said Aqua, concerned over all the work she'd had everyone go through with her idea.

"The beach is unimportant," insisted Terra. "We need to make sure it doesn't get infected and that nothing is broken."

"That was a pretty nasty fall," said Ventus. "You suddenly pitched forward for no reason."

"It was the shadows," said Aqua, knowing it sounded weird but convinced that the shadows had tripped her board.

"Probably just a hole you didn't notice until too late," said Terra.

Ven looked around Station Heights. "I don't see a hole. And where did your board go?"

"We're wasting time," said Terra. "Let's go."

"Ok," agreed Ven.

"Ok," said Aqua annoyed at herself. She was stupid to be blaming her mistakes and problems on shadows…


	3. 3rd Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

_She flipped the page and this time was greeted by another group of three friends. This time they were sitting on the top of a large clock tower, the sky painted in the many shades of sunset. This time there were another two guys, both wearing thick black cloaks that obscured their bodies. One was red headed and looked like he was always laughing and the other looked similar to Ven but seemed wholly different in his mannerisms. The third figure was also wearing a cloak but had their hood up, obscuring their face and making a gender identification impossible._

" _Axel…Roxas…," said the voice. "And…"_

* * *

**3rd** **Day**

* * *

Aqua woke up in bed, her brow furrowed in confusion. The image from her dream lingered in her mind and with it she recalled the dreams she'd had the past two days. She realized that the first image had been Terra, Ventus and her, but sitting in an unfamiliar area in unfamiliar clothes. The second one came to mind and reminded her of the three neighbor kids; Sora, Riku and Kairi. The three were best friends and always playing together. Sometimes they'd even make Aqua, Terra or Ventus play with them, not that any of them minded. But they had been older in the drawing, and she didn't know where that strange island could be. The latest image had been stranger still. She recognized none of the figures in that, although one of the boys had borne a slight resemblance to Ventus. What really stuck in her mind though was the third figure. She didn't know who it was and neither had the voice in her dreams who had said all the other names with confidence and authority.

Aqua wondered what they meant but didn't dwell on things too much. Getting out of bed she showered and dressed. Her arm was still slightly tender from the day before. It had a large bandage around it so she wore a plain short sleeve t-shirt to make it easier to deal with. In her closet she found a pair of tan fingerless gloves that she hadn't remembered seeing before. She put them on, finding them a perfect fit. She admired them briefly before going and getting breakfast. She made herself a quick meal, noting that Terra and Ventus were already gone. A note on the fridge revealed that they had gone to the sandlot to prepare for the tournament tomorrow. She was to meet them when she woke up to help them train, or to at least offer support.

Aqua finished up her breakfast, washing the dishes quickly in the sink. As she was about to leave the house she realized that she didn't have her pendant. She went back into her room and searched for it. No matter how hard she searched or what she looked in or under she couldn't find it. She expanded her search to the rest of the house, but still found nothing. She wracked her memory for the last time she'd seen or had it. She realized that she hadn't seen the pendant since her fall the day before off of the skateboard.

She ran up the hill to Station Heights, hoping to find her pendant quickly so that she could meet up with Terra and Ventus. She breathed hard as she made it to the top and looked around. She saw nothing at first but saw a blue glint out of the corner of her eye. She walked over to one corner of the Station Square and knelt down. She saw her pendant nestled in the corner, lying there forgotten. With a sigh of relief she reached out and picked it up.

Electricity suddenly ran through her as she picked up the pendant and suddenly she was falling through the night sky, stars all around her. She was falling head first, unable to move more than her head. She craned her neck and saw that she was falling into an ocean. Unable to brace herself she hit the water and went right through, drifting down gently through the cold depths. She flipped over while she fell and landed gently on her feet on a solid platform. Below her the platform glowed with a gentle blue light. Walking around she realized that she was somehow back in open air, even though only darkness surrounded her. The platform was a large circle that went downwards into the darkness. The platform looked like stained glass and had an image of her, wearing strange clothes that included the gloves she'd found that morning, her pendant clasped in one hand, a strangely shaped sword in the other. Next to the full sized image of her were four circles with smiling faces in them. One was of Ventus and another of Terra, while the third had an older man with a short dark beard that seemed to stir deeply buried memories in the back of her mind… The fourth image was of what looked to be a smiling mouse person who she felt she should know; a good friend who she had long been separated from.

"It all starts with a dream…" said a familiar voice, the voice from her dreams.

"Who are you?" asked Aqua, looking around and seeing no one. "Where am I? Why am I having these dreams?"

"Are you really dreaming?" asked the voice. "Or is this truer than the reality you came from?"

"So you can answer me!" yelled Aqua. "What's going on?"

"...," the voice was silent, not answering.

A second voice, this one unfamiliar spoke up now. "She can't know," said the voice, this one much deeper; monotone and without any emotion. "None of this should exist. She should just stay lost."

Suddenly around Aqua shadows started to coalesce like the day before. Instead of just making a pot hole they kept growing into several large puddles. The puddles then stood up and took the shape of short beetle like creatures, totally pitch black except for their burning yellow eyes. Aqua could feel instinctively that these creatures, these…shadows, were dangerous. One of them leapt at her and she managed to roll to the side, coming to her feet with a practiced ease she didn't remember having. She'd taken ballet lessons for many years but this felt different. It was combat instinct that she shouldn't have.

"What's going on?" asked Aqua, no longer expecting a reply.

There were ten of the shadows and they moved to surround her. They alternated between being solid and being sunk in the ground but she knew that at any moment they could spring up and kill her. She needed a weapon, she needed to be able to fight. But she didn't have a weapon and she couldn't fight. She needed help. She needed Ventus or Terra, they could handle themselves well in a fight, and they could save her. But she knew that wherever she wasn't they wouldn't be able to come help her. She squeezed her hand tight and felt the pendant digging into her hand, reminding her that she'd still been holding on to it.

Aqua held the pendant up to her chest and closed her eyes. "Please, I need help…"

Suddenly a warm light filled her and she opened her eyes. The pendant was glowing brightly, pushing back the shadows slightly. Instinctively she held out her right hand and with a flash of light a large object suddenly appeared in it. It looked like a large key and was made out of some type metal she didn't recognize. The key had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapered outward at both ends. It had a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and copper rod. The base of the guard connected to the grip, and both sported several small indentations lining them. The teeth of the key were in the shape of an E. From the base of the handle hung a small oddly familiar pendant by a small metal chain.

Words floated to the top of Aqua's mind and she spoke them aloud. "A keyblade….Master Keeper….Why do I know that?"

She didn't have time for further questions though as the shadows attacked her, enraged by the appearance of the key. Aqua's body moved as if on its own. She back flipped over a shadow and swing down at it. The keyblade went straight through the shadow, dissipating it to just a few strands of dark smoke. She landed unsteadily, the shadows now all in front of her instead of behind her. They reoriented and came at her almost as one. She swung blindly with the keyblade and took out the lead shadow but the remaining eight leapt around her new weapon, swiping at her with their claws. Instinctively she held up her free hand and a shield made up of hexagonal squares of light interposed itself between her and the shadows. The sudden appearance pushed the shadows back, once again giving her space to breath.

Aqua looked at her hand, wondering how she'd done what she had. She held her hand out to the shadows and tried to concentrate on the feeling again. Instead of the shield though she felt something else; yelling at her to be let loose. So she did, but instead of coming out of her hand like she'd expected she saw her new weapon glowing. She quickly held it up, the tip pointing at the shadows. She made it just in time as the energy that built up discharged, shooting out as a ball of lightning, strangely soundless. The lead shadow melted into the ground, followed by four others; leading the ball to hit one of the remaining shadows. It exploded, creating a circle of electricity that engulfed the two other shadows, destroying all three. Aqua was amazed at the effectiveness of the attack but felt fatigued, like she'd strained a muscle that she hadn't used for a while.

The five remaining shadows popped back out of the ground and spread out, moving to attack her. Aqua gripped the keyblade in both hands and ran at the first shadow, giving out a yell. "Rraarr!" She swung and the weapon cut the shadow down like she was cutting through just air. She leapt gracefully over the other shadows, landing with slightly less grace on the ground. Recovering from her stumble she turned around quickly and cut down the shadow that had been fastest to readjust to her dodge. She moved in quickly towards the shadow, swinging her weapon down on the middle one which was still trying to turn. She followed through with the motion and curved her weapon to her right, taking out another. Only one shadow remained, and it leapt at her as she turned to face it, claws only inches from her. She cartwheeled to the side and as soon as she was steady she rushed back in, cutting it down.

Aqua just stood on the platform, panting at the unfamiliar exertion she'd just gone through. She held her free hand to her heart, feeling it beat wildly, the adrenaline running through her making her feel an odd mix of emotions in what she was pretty sure was a horror movie plotline. She wondered briefly if just watching all of Terra and Ven's training sessions and fights had taught her how to do such moves or if it was inherent in the strange weapon she'd found herself wielding. The strange but familiar weapon…a keyblade…

A bright light glowed in front of her and in the air in front of the platform she was standing on suddenly formed a bunch of steps, hovering over the dark void. The steps formed one by one, curving up and stopping before a second platform that became suddenly illuminated. Looking around and seeing no other path Aqua took a deep breath. She walked forward, her new weapon clutched tightly in her hand, her pendant in the other. She held her foot tentatively over the first step and then gently lowered her foot onto it. She felt the resistance of a hard surface and with a deep breath she pressed her foot firmly down on the step. To her infinite relief the step held as if firmly rooted in the ground, not swaying like something suspended over nothing should do. She walked slowly forward, taking each step carefully at first. As her confidence in the steps grew so did the speed of her pace. She didn't quite break into a run, but she was walking quite fast up the last few steps. The new platform glowed with a soft yellow light that got brighter as she approached it. Once she was on the new platform she looked over her shoulder and saw the steps disappear starting with the one closet to her and finally ending with the step she'd started with. In the distance she could see the first platform, still glowing with a soft blue light and while she expected it to disappear at any moment it persisted, a beacon in the strange world. Looking around at this new platform she saw images on the ground that were different from the first set, but still oddly familiar. There was the image of a young boy, who she recognized from the second crayon dream; an older Sora. Next to him were circles that held the faces of Kairi, Riku and two other oddly familiar people. One was a duck, smiling despite having an orange bill instead of a mouth. The other one looked kind of like a dog, a goofy smile on his face.

"Why is this all so familiar?" asked Aqua, hoping the first voice would answer and fearing the second.

Suddenly in the middle of the platform two doors appeared in front of her. They were both ornately carved, patterns running up and down their surfaces. One was a pale pink, the other a dark purple and a cursory inspection of them revealed that they had nothing behind them, just two doors sitting in their archways, waiting to be opened.

Suddenly she heard the first voice speaking softly. "One door to return to happy ignorance and another to return to sad truth. One choice very easy, the other incredibly hard."

The second voice joined in, booming out a continuation. "One choice to lead to happiness and the other to lead only to sorrow. The keyblade can only lead to sorrow and destroyed relationships and must be discarded if true happiness is to be obtained. Those who wield such a weapon will have darkness drawn to them."

"But," chimed in the first voice, clearly at odds with the second. "It has the ability to unlock and connect hearts like no other. It can unlock doors to the light and lock away the darkness for good. The path may be harder but the truth lies at the end, and so does everything you love."

"Pick the purple door to continue living in happiness," bid the second voice.

"Pick the pink door to find out the truth," said the first voice.

Aqua just stood there as the voices went silent, waiting for her choice. She looked from door to door and saw things she hadn't noticed before. Underneath the purple door was a tiny ray of light, seeking to come out. Beneath the edges of the pink door Aqua saw dark tendrils snaking out, disintegrating into mist and then to nothing. Images of Terra and Ven filled her mind, images of their smiling faces, beckoning her to return to them. The keyblade felt heavy in her hand, a burden she had never asked for. In her other hand she gripped her pendant even tighter and held it up to her heart.

"Terra, Ven...," she whispered quietly, even though there was no one around to hear her anyways. "Help me make the right choice when I don't even know what I'm choosing or why…"

She felt bolstered suddenly by an inner light, one that beckoned her forward. She followed the instinct, hanging the pendant around her neck, she reached out and grabbed the handle of the pink door with her free hand. She tugged as hard as she could as the pink door slid open with a grating noise, darkness spilling out of the ever widening cracks. It snaked around her, trying to consume her, but she just kept pulling. The door finally agreed to move and flew open, sending her stumbling backwards slightly. Brilliant beams of light shot out from the now open door, disintegrating the tendrils of darkness around her. The purple door was also banished by the light, fading away as if it had never been there. Aqua stepped into the light and through the doorway…

…and she emerged onto another platform, this one softly glowing with a red light. As she stepped out of it the door disappeared behind her, leaving her stranded on the platform. Looking around she saw far below her the blue and yellow lights of the previous platforms, still glowing through the infinite darkness. What was most shocking was the shape of the platform she had appeared on. While the first two had been complete circles this one was missing a third of its structure, jagged edges attesting to some violent act that had ripped away parts of the platform. She saw two circles, faces smiling up at her from them. They were both from the third crayon dream, one the red head and the other the Ventus look-alike. She guessed that the part of the platform that had been destroyed contained the third person standing in full view much like the older Sora and she had been on the other two platforms.

She wondered briefly why that was and what it all meant. Her thoughts were interrupted though as the first voice spoke up again. "You have chosen the path of truth. This will not be an easy path to take, but in the end, everything will be brought to the light. The darkness of others will not be your only threat though." As the voice spoke Aqua noticed her shadow darkening and stretching beneath her. Then it separated completely, standing up and becoming three-dimensional.

The voice continued to speak. "But don't be afraid." The shadow looked briefly like a dark shaded version of her and then morphed, armor plates forming around it. A helmet, an oddly familiar looking helmet, with metal horns flaring back from the top, formed, covering up the features of the shadow that had resembled hers. "This darkness exists in everyone. It can be strong, but it can also be fought."

The armored shadow took a fighting stance and Aqua copied it, once again feeling oddly accustomed to the movements. The two squared off against each other, Aqua holding the keyblade tightly in one hand. The shadow made the first move, closing in the distance between them in an instant. Aqua barely had time to get her weapon up to block. The blow was powerful and knocked her weapon down and it was a struggle to get it up again to block the second strike. The pattern continued like that for an innumerable amount of time and blows. The shadow would strike, never letting up and Aqua would block as quickly as possible, faltering after the strike and trying to recover quick enough to block the next attack. Her mind wasn't filled with thoughts of counter attacks, there wasn't enough time for such things. There was only enough time to realize that if she didn't block fast enough she'd be dead. She felt her strength lessening with each block as the effort took a toll from her, while the shadow never seemed to weaken or tire. But a strange thing was happening, despite her continued weakening she was blocking quicker each time. She was recovering quicker and being pushed back less and less. Instead of each movement being a desperate bid for survival, thought started to creep in, telling her the best way to block.

So it was that when the shadow went to strike at her she recovered much faster than ever before and instead of just blocking she parried the blow, tripping up the shadow's movements for a brief second. This was enough as she brought her blade down straight through the shadow, cutting it in half diagonally. Both halves disappeared in dark smoke. Aqua just stood there, panting at the effort and wondering what was going to happen next.

She heard the sound of breaking glass and turning around quickly saw the platform breaking apart, starting at the jagged end where the missing figure should be. She backed up instinctively and the platform shrunk, threatening to send her plummeting into the darkness.

The voice came again, continuing from where it had left off before. "And you won't be alone in fighting the darkness. Others will be there to help you. To save you if you fall. All you have to do to reach the truth is to trust them. Do you trust us, Aqua?"

Aqua was shocked at being addressed directly by the voice. The shattering of the platform continued to close in on her, but in the distance she could still see the light of the other two platforms, beckoning to her. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I do."

"Then jump towards the light," said the voice.

Aqua didn't need to be told twice as she did a back flip off of the platform. She fell head first towards an area between the two remaining platforms. The blue and yellow lights started to move and swirl around her, filling her with light. She closed her eyes and let the light suffuse her, carrying her away from the darkness…

"Aqua!" yelled a voice, startling Aqua awake. Opening her eyes she saw Terra and Ventus looking down at her in concern. She realized that she was sitting in the corner of Station Heights where she had picked up her pendant. Terra spoke up, his voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Aqua, standing up. She refused Terra's out stretched hand, surprised at how good she was actually feeling. "I was just tired and took a nap here."

"We were worried when you didn't appear at the sandlot," said Ven, looking relieved that she was okay. "After a couple of hours we called it a day and went to find you. You weren't at home or any of the other usual spots so we were starting to panic."

"Sorry," apologized Aqua. Looking around she saw that the sun was starting to set. Wherever she'd been, a dream or another world, it had taken most of the day. From how good she was feeling she was wondering if it all really had been a dream and she'd just been asleep the whole time, her mind playing tricks on her.

"Well, if you say so," said Terra, eyeing her warily. "Then let's go home and get some rest. Ven and I have a hard day ahead of us tomorrow with the struggle tournament."

"We're going to destroy the competition!" said Ven, starting to walk off down the hill towards their house. Terra followed and Aqua followed after him. As they walked home Ven told her excitedly about all the training they'd been doing and how if she watched and cheered them on, there was no way they'd lose. She smiled and nodded absently, her mind still preoccupied by her dream. It had all been so real, so vivid. She could remember the feel of the keyblade in her hand and the feel of the light suffusing her. She realized that her arm didn't hurt anymore and removing the bandages she found that the wound was already healed.

So as Ven talked and Terra teased him a plan started to form in Aqua's mind. She needed to be sure that it had all only been a dream and there was just one way to find that out…


	4. 4th Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

_She was standing once again in the white room, the picture book laying on the white table. She flipped that page and she saw an image of Terra, Ventus and Aqua standing in a keyblade graveyard, all three of them dressed in armor, their keyblades drawn. Facing them were three men, one old with a keyblade, one young with a strange crossbow in each hand and the third still a boy, a keyblade in his hand. The two forces were staring each other down, ready to fight at any moment._

_A girl's voice rang through the room, "This is where it all started, and where two lights would be ended…"_

* * *

**4th** **Day**

* * *

Aqua woke up early but refreshed. She moved her body through several stretches she'd learned in ballet class. Anything to help give her the edge today. She then washed quickly and dressed, donning a simple pair of jeans, a t-shirt and the gloves from before. She took her pendant and tied it to a strap around her belt; she didn't want it to get in her way today but she didn't plan to go anywhere without it.

When she left her room Terra already had breakfast ready, a smile on his face. Ven was already digging into the food, eating with a hurriedness like this could be his last meal. In some part of his mind it probably was. It was the last meal before he fought in the struggle tournament, an event he'd been training with Terra for over a year. Terra had been struggle champion for five years in a row but had missed the previous year due to complications in Ven's health that had left him bed ridden. They'd spent the day watching over him in the hospital and even though he'd soon gotten a clean bill of health, she'd been worried for a while that he'd have a relapse. Now he was healthy and ready for a chance to once again fight his best friend and rival on a public scale. Aqua knew there was no way he'd miss it.

"Ready for the tournament?" she asked them, taking a plate of food for herself. She took a bite, enjoying the taste, as good as ever.

"You bet!" declared Ven.

"I'm interested in seeing how the competition has changed in two years," replied Terra, taking some food for himself.

"How late do they take registrations?" asked Aqua, hoping she didn't sound too curious.

"Right up until the start of the tournament," replied Terra, not aware that that had been the answer Aqua had been hoping for.

"Done!" said Ven, his plate scraped clean. "Let's get there early to scope out the competition!"

"Sure thing," said Terra, eating his food steadily.

"Just give me a minute," said Aqua, increasing the pace at which she ate. Soon they were both done and the trio of friends were out the door on their way to the sandlot.

At the sandlot Aqua saw that things were already underway. A ring had been set up in the center of the lot and several people were checking the construction to make sure things were ok. Fans and viewers were already milling about and finding seats in the stands or buying snacks at one of the stalls that had been set up for the event. In one corner of the lot a table had been set up, a large sign indicating that it was the registration table. A large man in a green sweater was loudly greeting people, fighters and spectators alike. The fighters he signed up quickly and sent them off to a waiting area where they got to choose from the armory of approved weapons. Most of the weapons were swords made of soft foam over a plastic core. There were several more exotic weapons like a shield or staff, made of a similar construction. Aqua remembered Ven telling her that if there was enough advanced notice, and a small fee, you could order the special construction of almost any weapon.

"Terra! Ventus!" greeted the struggle coordinator, taking each boy into a large, awkward bear hug. When he was done with that he just smiled widely at them. "I'm glad to see you two this year! Things were quite boring last year without you and many are anticipating the return of the champion. And his young, ever improving rival of course."

"We'll give them a great show!" said Ven proudly, pointing his thumb at his chest.

"I bet you will!" laughed the coordinator. "Now just wait over there and things will start soon enough.

Terra and Ventus walked away towards the fighter's area, chatting excitedly about the various fighters they saw around them. Aqua stayed behind, standing awkwardly next to the coordinator who had already turned to deal with some other business. She spoke up. "Sir?"

The coordinator turned around, surprised to see that she was still standing there. "Yes my dear? The audience stands are over there, refreshments over there and toilets have been installed over there."

"No, I don't need any of that," replied Aqua, shaking her head. "I had another question for you."

"Oh?" he asked, sounding intrigued. "What is it?"

"Would it still be okay if I signed up for the tournament?"

"You want to sign up right now at the last minute!" replied the coordinator, surprised. "Of course you can! Always glad to have new people joining us! Especially friends of tournament favorites!"

"Thank you," said Aqua, taking the piece of paper handed to her by the coordinator. Taking a pen she started to quickly fill out the form and sign the necessary releases. While she did so the coordinator stared at her in curiosity.

"If I may," started the coordinator. "But what made you decide to sign up now? Never mind the late date, but all the other years that you've come as just a spectator, why are you deciding to join now?"

"Something happened to me the other day," admitted Aqua. "Something that made me second guess some things and I guess I just want to use this as a way to figure them out."

"Finding yourself in the heat of battle!" gushed the coordinator, looking even more excited than usual. "Such a romantic concept! A young warrior taking the stage of battle to find out who she really is! Such a noble goal! Glad to have you aboard!"

"I'm glad to be participating," replied Aqua with a smile, handing over the paper to the coordinator."

"You can find a weapon over there in the waiting area," said the coordinator, pointing. Just ask and you shall receive! I bet your friends are thrilled for this opportunity!"

"I hope so," said Aqua uncertainly.

"I bet they are! Now hurry along! We'll be starting any minute!"

Aqua went over to the fighter's area and grabbed a sword from the bin, giving it a few test swings. It didn't feel as natural as wielding the keyblade had been in her dreams, but it didn't feel awkward either. Ventus and Terra walked over to her, swords in their hands.

"What are you doing over here?" asked Ven, confused.

"I decided to compete," said Aqua.

"Neat!" said Ven excitedly.

"What made you decide to do that?" asked Terra.

"You guys always looked like you were having so much fun, so I decided I wanted to try it out," lied Aqua.

"Do you know how to fight?" asked Terra.

"Not really," said Aqua, not sure if this was a lie or the truth. "But maybe if I'm lucky I'll get an easy opponent the first round."

"The competition is pretty good this year," said Ven.

"Welcome everybody!" yelled the Struggle coordinator over the speakers. "Have we got a tournament for you today! So many talented fighters will be joining us today, both veterans' and new members of our little community! The matches have been decided randomly by lot and boy does this first match illustrate the difference between the newcomers and veterans! Opening for us today will be the champion of last year's Struggle Tournament against a young woman who until today has been content to watch her friends fight in these matches. Can Zack and Aqua come up to the ring?"

"Zack…," muttered Terra. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Isn't that the kid who's obsessed with beating you?" asked Ven. I guess he won last year without you there."

"I didn't realize any other kids but you were trying to beat me," said Terra with a smile, ruffling Ven's hair.

"I bet he'll still be a hard opponent," said Ven, fighting away from Terra and ignoring his comments. "That's too bad for your first match to be against him Aqua."

"Good luck," bid Terra.

"Thanks, said Aqua with a smile, taking a deep breath as she walked towards the ring. As she got into the ring cheers erupted all around her, feeling like they were going to engulf her. Only the jovial smile of the coordinator helped to steady her in the ring.

"Relax," he said. "Just try your best and I'm sure you'll do fine!"

"Thank you," she said, feeling better. She looked over at her opponent who had somehow taken more time to get to the ring than her. As he climbed over the ropes she saw that he was about her age and looked to be wearing baggy blue clothes, a gladiator style breastplate over his chest. He had spikey black hair and his sword was held loosely in his hand. When he was done climbing through the ropes he looked at her, confused for a moment by what he saw before flashing her a bright smile.

"You're my opponent?" he asked, sounding more curious than offended. "You're pretty cute."

"Thank you," said Aqua automatically, blushing and turning to look away from his friendly blue eyes.

"You look familiar though…I wonder why? I commute into Twilight Town only for the Struggle Tournament so I don't think it's from anywhere else…"

"My friends Terra and Ven compete every year," replied Aqua.

"You're friends with those two?" said Zack, looking shocked and happy at the same time. "That's amazing! The first struggle tournament I came to was to just watch and it was Terra's first win. He destroyed the competition even at such a young age. I've been trying to beat him ever since, but with no luck. I bet since you're a friend of his you must be a tough fighter, right?"

"I don't think I am…," replied Aqua uncertainly.

"Don't sell yourself short!" said Zack happily. "Just try to enjoy it and put up the best fight you can!"

"Ok, I will," said Aqua with a smile.

"I'm glad to see you two are getting along well," said the coordinator, smiling. Then into his microphone he announced, "And now let's let the first fight of the Struggle Tournament commence!"

Zack took a fighting stance, his sword held in both hands. His expression had turned serious and he was eyeing Aqua trying to find openings. Aqua herself fell into the fighting stance from her dreams, her feet spread apart and her sword held down and away from her at an angle. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, tuning out the roar of the crowd, even the sound of Ven loudly cheering her on from the fighter's area. Not wanting to wait, Aqua charged at Zack and swung. He blocked her attack easily and swung at her. She circled her blade around and brought it between her and Zack, blocking his attack with just as much ease. She swung again and this time forced him back but when it was his turn to attack he stepped forward, closing the distance and making her need to move back. They continued this back and forth for a long time, almost like a dance as both fighters swayed through the motions. Aqua wasn't aware as the crowd around her went silent in awe as the two fighters moved. They were beautiful to watch and evenly matched. Zack's movements were stronger and more direct while Aqua's were quicker and very fluid. They were two extremes, neither backing down.

The fight reminded Aqua of the shadow from her dream, but in reverse. This time her opponent was tiring quicker and he realized it. Zack increased the speed and power of his attacks, pushing her back and giving her no time to reply with attacks of her own. But this tired him even more and he responded by trying to end it all in one strike. That was Aqua's chance though. When he swung, expecting to hit either his opponent or for her to block, he hit nothing but air. Aqua had cartwheeled to the side suddenly and swung her own sword at his side. Zack went flying, landing on the floor of the ring.

This is when Aqua noticed that everything was silent. Looking around she saw the whole crowd looking at her in silent surprise. She ignored the stares though and walked over to Zack who was trying to get up. She held out her hand to him and after looking at her curiously flashed her a smile and took her hand. As she helped him up the crowd erupted into cheering. She faintly heard Ven cheering her name but was distracted as the coordinator walked over to them, a large smile on his face.

"That was a great match you two!" he exclaimed. "You both did great and that sportsmanship at the end; what a great way to set a standard for the rest of the competitors!"

Then he flicked on his microphone and pointed at Aqua with his free hand. "And our victor is Aqua! Give both our fighters a round of applause for such a great fight!" He let the cheering go on for a minute while Zack and Aqua exited the ring together. "And now welcome our next set of contestants! They're best friends who have been competing for a long time. One is a former champion among champions and the other is the perpetual underdog who refuses to give up! Come on up, Terra and Ventus!"

"This fight is going to be great!" said Zack, standing next to Aqua. She wondered who she should cheer for and decided she'd cheer for both of them.

"Go Ven!" she cheered. "Go Terra!" Her friends smiled and waved at her then turned to face each other.

"I bet Terra can't be too happy hearing his girlfriend cheering for someone else, even a good friend," commented Zack, earning a shocked stare from Aqua, her face burning in embarrassment.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she protested. And then, slightly calmer, "we're just friends."

"Really?" asked Zack. A smile appeared on his face and he slammed his fist down into his palm. "Then would you agree to go on a date with me?"

"A date?" gasped Aqua, shocked by the proposal. She felt her face burning even hotter than before. "I-I-well-I…."

"Come on! It'll be fun!" insisted Zack. "My treat since you beat me. This'll be great! It's not often a guy gets a chance to go on a date with a girl as cute and as strong as you."

"Th-thank you…" muttered Aqua, ignoring the question of the date. She turned to look up at the ring where Terra and Ven had both settled into fighting stances.

"And struggle!" called the coordinator. Ven started to circle Terra, looking for an opening. Terra just stood in the same spot, shifting slightly to keep Ven in his sight. His sword was down by his hip in imitation of a samurai drawing their sword straight from the scabbard.

"Terra's form is as smooth as always," commented Zack, now focused on the battle. As Aqua watched she couldn't feel that something was wrong. She remembered that this is how Terra fought but at the same time something tickled at the back of her memory, telling her that it wasn't…

Either Terra had had enough of waiting or Ven had made a misstep unseen by Aqua, but he moved into action. With just a few steps and a swing it was over. Ven tried to bring up his weapon to block but Terra's raw power was too much for him, sending him flying to land in a heap on the other side of the ring. The crowd erupted into cheers as Ven struggled to stand up. Terra was next to him in a blink, his sword pointed at his head, his free hand outstretched to accept the surrender. Ven looked like he wanted to keep fighting but he relented, his grimace changing to a smile as he took his friend's hand.

"What an amazing match!" yelled the coordinator. "And their friendship survives another fight! Such strong young men we've had the pleasure to watch grow up here at the struggle tournament! Can we have the next two contestants, Seifer and Hayner enter the ring?"

"You two were great up there!" exclaimed Zack as Terra and Ven walked over to where they were standing.

"Thanks," said Ven, blushing slightly from the praise. "Are you two friends now?"

Aqua blushed slightly at the comment but Zack just flashed another smile. "Hopefully! Although Aqua has yet to tell me if she agrees to that date with me or not."

Terra just raised an eyebrow in surprise while Ven's jaw dropped. He looked from Zack to Aqua back to Zack. "You did what?"

"Invited her on a date, she's cute and strong," complimented Zack. "Why wouldn't I? Plus I owe her for beating me. Think of it as a reward, free dinner and a movie."

"That's slightly more than a reward," observed Terra.

"Sounds more like you're trying to reward yourself," said Ven.

"I probably would be," agreed Zack.

Aqua fought back her blush, to no avail. "I haven't agreed yet…"

"Until you say no you could still say yes," pointed out Zack. "But if you don't want to go, just tell me so and I'll stop bothering you."

Aqua took a deep breath, aware that Zack, Ven and Terra were all staring at her expectantly. She let out the breath, feeling calmer. "Sure, I'll go on a date with you."

"Yes!" said Zack, pumping his fist into the air, and drawing some stares from the ongoing fight towards them. He waved bashfully at the people who then went back to watching the fight. He looked back at Aqua. "How about in three days from now?"

"Sure," agreed Aqua.

"And Seifer has won!" declared the coordinator. Seifer just sneered not helping Hayner up. Although Hayner didn't look like he would have accepted Seifer's help even if it had been offered. The coordinator ignored their lack of sportsmanship and continued speaking. "Sparks are flying today as we showcase competitors with more amazing talent and skills than ever before! Great fight you two! Now for our next fight, Setzer versus Axel!"

"Setzer!" yelled a large crowd of girls carrying signs and wearing t-shirts with the name Setzer on it. For his part Setzer was a ruggedly handsome young man who looked several years older than Aqua guessed he really was, since she remembered there being an age limit to the tournament. When his opponent climbed into the ring Aqua felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Axel…" she muttered. The name had sounded familiar when it had been announced and now it clicked. Axel was the red headed man from the third crayon dream and one of the smiling faces from the final platform from her dream. He was even wearing the same long black coat, his hood currently hanging down his back. In each hand he held a strange weapon, foam circles with four spikes spaced out equally on each. He held them casually, spinning them around lazily in his palms. His whole posture was loose and he seemed about to fall asleep.

Aqua realized that despite this he was sizing up his opponent and when the coordinator announced the start to the fight Axel was on top of Setzer in a moment. Setzer backed away with lightning speed but Axel pushed in, limiting the effectiveness of Setzer's sword. Axel's weapons seemed to be perfectly fine at close range though. He stopped spinning the weapons, gripping them tightly and spun himself around, a hurricane of attacks raining down on Setzer. He tried desperately to block but Axel's movements were super human. Aqua thought she even saw fire on the edges of them but she realized she had to just be imagining things. Setzer was soon on the ground and the coordinator declared Axel the winner. Axel walked off stage without helping Setzer up or saying a word.

A thirty minute break was announced, allowing people time to use the toilets or to get snacks without missing any of the action. It also allowed the fighters some extra time to rest. Aqua, Terra, Ventus and Zack all sat together, conversing happily back and forth among themselves. Zack added a light hearted quality to their group that Aqua quite admired, although she was kind of annoyed that he kept calling her cute, and the fact that she couldn't help blushing every time.

Hayner was now sitting in the stands with two of his friends eating ice cream. Seifer was surrounded by three of his friends who seemed excited about his chances of winning the tournament, he just stood there smirking the whole time though. Setzer had left after his defeat, and signing autographs for all of his fans, after assuring them that while he had lost this time, he would be back again even stronger, earning their love all over again. Axel just sat by himself, hood up, absently twirling his weapons.

Aqua was tempted to go over and ask Axel why he was in her dreams but couldn't figure out how to phrase the question in a way that didn't make her sound crazy. She learned from asking Zack, Terra and Ven what they knew about the other fighters. Hayner and Seifer were regulars and rivals who hated each other, with Seifer winning almost every time. Setzer was also a regular a favorite at tournaments. He usually made it to the final round of any tournament he was in, even if he didn't manage to win. Without Terra there the year before though he had won, defeating Zack in the finals.

The three boys knew nothing about Axel though. He was new, an unknown, and they really weren't sure what exactly his weapons were, except that they worked. The six people in her first two dreams had been people she knew, although in different clothes and older than she remembered in the case of Sora, Riku and Kairi. But the third dream had contained three people she didn't know, even if one of them looked like Ven something told her they weren't Ven. Axel was dissimilar to anyone else she knew and it didn't seem like a coincidence that he had appeared today during the tournament that she had decided to join last minute. What really bugged her though was that third figure, the hooded person in the drawing who had clearly had their image obliterated from the pillar in her dream. She knew that she shouldn't know who that was but something compelled her to want to find out. Maybe if she found that person she'd know what was going on with her life recently.

Before she had figured out how to approach Axel properly the break was over and the second round starting. First was to be her versus Terra, a fight she was sure she couldn't win. It was almost disappointing, knowing that she was going to lose so easily, the tournament had been surprisingly fun so far. She wondered why she'd never tried this before in all the years she'd just sat watching. Terra stood up from the bench and flashed her a smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks, you too," replied Aqua. Terra walked up to the ring where the coordinator was waiting but Aqua was delayed as both Zack and Ven grabbed her by an arm. The two boys had apparently not planned it like that though.

"I've just got something to say to Aqua quickly," said Ven, glaring at Zack.

"Well so do I," said Zack, smiling back.

"Well I stopped her first," protested Ven.

"No way, I definitely grabbed her arm first," insisted Zack.

"Guys, I need to go up for my match," said Aqua. "Please just one of you speak first."

"Good luck up there, kick Terra's butt!" cheered Ven and Zack at the same time. They glared at each other for a moment than started to laugh, releasing her arms.

Aqua smiled at the two boys. "Thank you, but don't forget to cheer on Terra also."

""He doesn't really need it," said Ven.

"Plus since you beat me and took away my chance to beat him you need to do it for me!" said Zack.

"Avenge us!" cried Ven, laughing.

"You've got this!" cheered Zack.

"Thank you both, again," replied Aqua sincerely. Their faith and confidence in her really meant a lot to her. "I'll make sure to have him taste dirt!"

"There you go!" cheered both boys.

"Will our contestant please get into the ring?" asked the coordinator good-naturedly, sounding amused.

"Sorry!" yelled Aqua, waving once more to her friends. "Coming!"

Aqua climbed into the ring, smiling apologetically at the coordinator and Terra. "Sorry."

"No problem my dear!" said the coordinator with a smile. "I hope those two boy's pep talk has you fired up for this match!"

"Yes, it helped," said Aqua.

"Ready?" asked Terra.

"Yep, good luck," replied Aqua.

"And now for our next match up today we have once again another pair of friends!" announced the coordinator. "One is our champion and the other the fiery newcomer who has shown incredible skill so far! Who will emerge victorious? Soon, we will find out! Now, struggle!"

Terra and Aqua both leapt backwards slightly, creating space between them. Terra had his sword down by his hip again like he had against Ven and Aqua had her sword held out at her side, waiting. Terra's attacks were powerful and took out his foes in one hit, so in theory stopping the attack and counter attacking would take him out. In practice she knew it to be much harder than that. Physically he was very tough and would probably take more than one blow to take out, unless it was a very good blow. As he had shown against Ven he was also very quick and could recover quickly. Everything about him was superior to all other challengers, except maybe Axel, who had shown remarkable strength and speed.

While Aqua was trying to figure out her first move Terra made his. All it took was a subtle step forward when her eyes were distracted and he was within range. Taking a full step forward suddenly he slashed quickly at her, trying to take her out like he had Ven. Aqua reacted just in time though, bringing her sword up to block and stopping the attack; barely. She was pushed backwards and Terra took another step forward, this time attacking with an overhead slash. Aqua brought her sword up to block over her head and the effort of doing so brought her to her knee. Terra kept pressing the blow instead of letting up on it, keeping her pinned down and threatening to break her guard.

Aqua tried to stand but couldn't find the strength. Terra was absurdly strong, stronger than she remembered him being. Something felt wrong about this whole match, but she couldn't place her finger on it. When she looked up at him, gritting his teeth as he tried to break her guard, she thought she saw his eyes flash from their usual bright blue to a strange amber color, but when she blinked they were back to normal and she was nowhere closer to standing up. She just didn't have enough strength…

"Aqua!" cheered Ven.

"Kick his butt!" cheered Zack.

Aqua felt emboldened by their cheers and she tried to call on all of her strength. Suddenly she felt something bubbling up inside of her, something she'd only ever felt in a dream. It healed her weary arms and even empowered her muscles. Suddenly, very slowly, Aqua stood up, to the surprise of Terra and the spectators.

"What?" said Terra.

Aqua just gritted her teeth and then with a burst of exertion knocked away Terra's sword. "Hraa!" She then griped her sword in both hands and brought it straight into Terra's chest with as much power as she could muster. Terra collapsed to the ground on one knee, his sword held limply in his hand. He looked up, surprised, at Aqua who was standing ready in a fighting stance to continue the battle. He smiled slightly and looked over at the coordinator. "I surrender."

"What?" asked Aqua, surprised.

"And there we have it folks!" yelled the coordinator. "Terra has surrendered! We have our winner, Aqua!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and Aqua could only stare in shock at those around her. She could hear Ven and Zack going wild with cheers and applause. Then she realized Terra was still down and quickly offered him a hand up. He took it with a smile, gripping her arm by the forearm as she did the same. Once he was on his feet he dusted off his pants.

"That was a good fight," he said. "I didn't realize you were that strong."

"Neither did I," admitted Aqua. "I was worried there, you were so strong and fast, I can't believe I managed to defeat you. I guess I got lucky."

"Doesn't seem like luck to me," said Terra. "You definitely deserved the win. Are you sure you've never fought before?"

"I guess doing ballet and watching you and Ven train and fight all the time has been quite useful."

"I guess," replied Terra, studying her. "We'd better head back to the rest area before your two super fans over there explode with excitement."

Aqua just laughed as they walked out of the ring and towards Ven and Zack.

"You two were great up there!" said Ven, hugging both of them.

"I knew that the person who managed to beat me could beat Terra!" said Zack proudly, as if he was the one who had won. "I guess I'll need to try even harder now to beat Terra myself. Maybe if I'm lucky I can beat Aqua too. You're quickly on your way to being our new champion!"

"There's still one more fight," pointed out Aqua, feeling embarrassed by all the attention and praise. "Either Seifer or Axel could always beat me."

"Seifer's good, but he's not that good," said Zack confidently. "Axel does seem strong I admit, but I bet you're much better."

"We can just watch and find out before prematurely calling it," said Terra, sounding amused.

"But where's the fun in that?" asked Zack.

"I wonder who will win this fight?" asked Ven, turning his attention to the next match.

"And struggle!" yelled the coordinator.

As soon as the call came Axel was flying into motion, striking lightning fast blows at Seifer. He managed to block the first several but was eventually overwhelmed. Blows rained down on him from everywhere and soon he was on the ground.

"And it's over!" cried the coordinator. "Axel is our winner! What an upset this tournament has become! All of the old guard has been swept away by the fresh contenders! Our two newbie's will be facing off against each other in the finals! Join us after this short break for the exciting conclusion to this year's Struggle Tournament!"

"Wow, that Axel guy is pretty good," admitted Zack.

"His fighting style is so different it makes it hard for most people to counter or defend," commented Terra.

"I bet you can still take him," said Ven, smiling at Aqua.

She returned the smile. "I plan to try."

"Better take a seat and rest up then," said Terra, leading them over to the bench. Seifer had joined his friends in the spectator stands while Hayner hurled down insults at him. Seifer just replied with an obscene gesture. Axel was sitting by himself at the other end of the bench, his black hood once again covering his face.

Soon enough the break was over and the coordinator was once again yelling in his microphone. "And now for the final round of the Struggle Tournament! This time our finalists Aqua and Axel will be facing off against each other! Both new fighters, they've been dominating the competition. How will they fare against each other? Who will be our new Struggle Champion? Show us you skills! And struggle!"

Aqua fell into a combat stance and eyed her opponent. Axel just absently twirled around his weapons, looking to be completely open and unprepared. Aqua knew otherwise from his last two fights though. He could move at a moment's notice, taking her out before she had a chance to defend or counter. While she racked her mind for a strategy something strange happened. Axel's cloak shifted slightly, as if it was made of shadows instead of fabric. Aqua was assaulted with a strange sensation and after a moment she realized what it was. Complete and utter quiet.

Aqua glanced around and saw that all the spectators were stuck still, frozen in mid cheer. The coordinator was watching the fight with an interested smile on his face, a smile that was frozen on. He wasn't moving, not even a sway. It was like time had frozen completely. Looking over she saw the same thing had happened to Terra, Ventus and Zack, all stopped in the poses they had been making.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice carrying strangely through the silent area. She saw movement out of the corner of her eyes and barely managed to cartwheel to the side as Axel came charging at her, apparently unfazed by whatever was going on. Back on her feet she squared off, staring at him in confusion as he reoriented to face her. "Did you do this?"

He didn't respond, just stared at her blankly. She tried again. "Why were you in my dream? Why were you on that pillar? Why did I know your name before it was announced?"

Axel didn't answer her, but another voice did. "He won't answer," said the voice. Aqua looked to the right and saw a silver spiral of light. When it was gone the boy from her dreams who looked like Ven was standing there, staring down Axel. He had white and black rings on his fingers and had an expression more serious than any Ven ever wore.

"Roxas…," muttered Aqua, remembering his name from her dream.

"Yes," replied Roxas simply.

"You were also in my dreams," said Aqua. "Why?"

"Think of it as backstory."

"Why do you look like Ven?" asked Aqua.

"I'll answer your questions in a minute, I think this is going to demand our attention," said Roxas, turning to face Axel. Axel had been standing in the same spot while they had been talking but he wasn't the same Axel. Black flames had started to crackle around him and the edges of his body had grown…fuzzy, as if they weren't really there. His eyes had gone completely yellow, eerily similar to that of the shadows that had attacked her in her dream. Axel's weapons had also enlarged and looked metallic and Aqua suspected that they weren't made of foam anymore. Just when Aqua thought things couldn't get any weirder, Axel gave an inhuman bellow, his mouth stretching beyond the length it should have been able to.

"Sorry to do this to you buddy," said Roxas. He held out both of his hands away from his sides and in each, in a flash of light, appeared a keyblade. The keyblades were both recognizable as such but completely different from the one she'd been using in her dream, and different from each other. One had a blade that was made of two silver spars that came out from the handle and formed the blade of the weapon. The tips of the metal curved together into a heart while the teeth of the key were in the shape of some type of star that reminded Aqua of the kanji for "light". The handle bore two angel wings that flared to either side. At the base of the keyblade was an object similar to the pendant Aqua had, just made of pink sea shells. In Roxas's other hand was a completely black keyblade that was the counter to the first. It had bat wings in place of the angel wings for the handle. Instead of two metal struts forming the blade it had just a single piece of black metal that looked like a stylized sword blade. The teeth were shaped vaguely like the kanji for "darkness", a three sided box with a point coming out of the middle.

"You have two keyblades?" asked Aqua, totally confused now and not sure that she was ever going to get answers, or that she wasn't just completely insane now.

"Yes, now dodge!" yelled Roxas.

Axel sprang into action, fire trailing after him as he practically flew at Aqua. She threw her sword at him and cartwheeled out of the way. The weapon hit Axel and combusted, burning away to nothing. Axel struck the place she had been standing with his weapon, obliterating a chunk of the ring. He turned to continue attacking Aqua but Roxas hadn't been standing still and moved to engage Axel. He swung with the black keyblade, striking Axel while he was unguarded. Axel flew out of the ring and landed hard on the ground. To Aqua's surprise he just stood up as if he'd never been hit.

"Didn't think it would be that easy," muttered Roxas. He looked at Aqua. "Draw your keyblade, I'm going to need back up."

"How do I do that?" asked Aqua.

"Just hold out your hand and think about it."

Aqua held out her hand hesitantly and closed her eyes. She tried to remember her dream from the day before, when she'd fought the shadows. She thought about the urgency she'd felt, the weight of the weapon in her hand and the rightness of it being there. She opened her eyes and in a flash of light her keyblade was in her hand as if it had always been there.

"What is happening to me?" she asked again.

"You're in a scenario," replied Roxas. "I can't really explain too much without ruining the path things need to take. My just being here is going to derail our plans."

Axel jumped back into the ring and charged at Roxas, flames dancing around him. Roxas ducked under the first attack and blocked the second with his black keyblade. He swung the white one at Axel and knocked him into the air. Crouching down briefly he leapt into the air and weaved his keyblades through a fast string of attacks. He brought both keyblades down on Axel, hammering him straight into the ground. Roxas landed and moved to attack Axel as he was still down but Axel had recovered faster than he had expected and was on top of Roxas in an instant. Spinning around he became a hurricane of fire that struck Roxas and launched him far out of the ring, landing in the middle of the spectator's stand and phasing right through the people as if they weren't there.

He stood up with a grunt and a look of fear appeared on his face. "Look out!" he yelled.

Aqua turned and raised her keyblade to guard just in time. Axels flaming weapons struck a shield of light that interposed itself between her and him, same as the one she'd used against the shadows. This time she held the shield in place as Axel rained blow after fiery blow down on her. His attacks were stopped but he wasn't repelled like the shadows had been. Fire engulfed her on all sides, cutting off any hope of retreat if her shield faltered. She wasn't even sure how she was doing what she was doing, let alone managing to do it while moving. She knew she needed to do something though, some way to counter attack. Something in the back of her mind told her that there was a way, all she had to do was step forward. So she did, trying to maintain the shield at the same time. It became more than a step, it became a leap. She flew through the air suddenly, the shield compressed around her. It pushed back Axel's attacks and then struck him, sending him flying to the side.

As Aqua landed she saw Roxas taking advantage of her counter attack, flying through the air to attack Axel with a rapid barrage of attacks. Once again he knocked Axel into the air and Aqua got the sense that he was familiar with how to fight the red head.

Roxas leapt into the air to continue the attack but Axel recovered quicker than before, surrounding one of his weapons in a wreath of fire and preparing to throw it. Aqua's keyblade came up quickly and automatically. Ice crystals formed at the tip and a ball of ice shot out, hitting Axel in the chest. The attack stunned him, interrupting his own attack. Roxas continued his barrage, flipping once again to hammer Axel into the ground. This time light gathered at the tips of both of his keyblades and when he struck Axel it caused a bright flash. Axel hit the ground hard, but was moving to stand almost instantly.

Aqua reacted instinctively once again and pointed her keyblade at him. "No you don't!" she yelled. The ice crystals at the tip of the keyblade fell off as an unseen force pushed them to the ground. This same force covered Axel, slamming him into the ground. This gave Roxas enough time to land and move in. He slashed both keyblades in the shape of an X. The attack sliced through Alex this time but instead of blood only darkness flooded out. Axel's body disintegrated in a flash of fire and darkness. A glowing pink heart flew away from the body and into the sky.

Roxas turned to look at Aqua and flashed her a quick smile. "Thanks for the assist. He was tougher like this and there was only so much I could do on my own. I fear I've made things tougher on us later but I just had to butt in. He was…is my friend, I had to do this for him."

"I don't understand," said Aqua, still trying to make sense of everything. "Why were you two in my dreams? What is the keyblade? What is this darkness? What are these dreams? Who's the voice I keep hearing?"

Aqua was surprised when Roxas started to laugh. "You sound a lot like me. I'm running out of time that I can stick around. First; the keyblade is a weapon that can lock or unlock any lock or heart. I look like Ventus because I'm related to him in a rather…complex manner. I really can't tell you much more except that we're trying to help you, but we also need your help. You've been asleep in the darkness for a while but someone is coming to help you. He can bring people back to the light, we're just trying to make his job easier. There's someone lost in the darkness and we need you to save them. We don't know who they are or what they look like, we just know they need help. We didn't expect to find Axel here but with your help I think we managed to save him too."

Aqua just stared at Roxas for a moment. "I still don't understand."

Roxas gave a sigh. "Just trust us, please?"

"But I don't know you," said Aqua.

"But you know Ventus and so do I," replied Roxas. "He wants us to help you, can you trust that?"

Aqua looked into the crowd at the still frozen Ventus and at the green pendant on his belt. She touched the one at her waist and felt a burst of reassurance, Roxas could be trusted. She looked up at him and stared right into his eyes, eyes so similar to Ven's. She gave a sigh. "I trust you."

"Good," said Roxas with a smile. He started to glow and become transparent. "Looks like that's all the time we have."

"You keep saying 'we'," said Aqua. "But you don't mean me and you, do you? Who else are you working with?"

"I can't tell you," said Roxas. "If you know it'll weaken the control we have over things. I used up some of that control to come here to help against Axel. I probably won't be able to come help again if things go wrong. You'll be on your own. Stay strong."

With that Roxas disappeared. The world shimmered around Aqua and in a flash of light things had changed. She was once again standing in a fully restored struggle arena, foam sword in hand. In front of her on the ground laid Axel, defeated from her last attack. The crowd was cheering, Ven and Zack the loudest, jumping up and down in excitement at her victory. Everyone was moving and looked solid, the Coordinator walking over to announce the results.

"And in an amazing final bout Aqua has won the Struggle Tournament!" yelled the coordinator. "I have never seen such amazing fighting in my many years of hosting this tournament. Both competitors should be proud of their performances!"

Axel stood up slowly and smiled at her, a life to his expressions that hadn't been there previously. "Looks like you got me. I'll get you next time though. Be prepared." He spoke with no trace of malice, just good natured competitive spirit in his voice.

Aqua managed a smile. "I will be," she said lightheartedly. Inside she was trying to reconcile two separate memories of fighting against Axel. One against the evil Axel with Roxas and the other the struggle battle against this newly friendly Axel, a fight she knew she hadn't really taken part in. It was a fight everyone else seemed to think she had fought though, so she acted like it had happened. "I look forward to fighting you in the finals next year."

Axel walked forward, hand outstretched. Aqua took in and the two shook, driving the crowd even wilder with excitement. The coordinator was yelling some announcement but Aqua hardly heard him. When he handed her the championship belt and the trophy for the tournament she took them with a smile and a polite thank you. When Ven, Zack and Terra rushed ahead of the crowd to congratulate her she smiled and thanked them. When they quickly pulled her away from the mass that was her new crowd of fans, she followed. When Zack parted from them with a reminder about their date, Aqua waved, causing the boy to skip away with excitement. While Terra and Ven took her to a restaurant to celebrate she ate quietly and listened with half an ear as they talked about the tournament, particularly praising her performance. When they finally made it back home and Aqua's trophy and belt was laid next to Terra's on the mantle she wished them good night and went into her room. Her mind so full of the events of the day, Aqua never noticed as Terra gave her a lingering look, studying her with a new curiosity.

* * *

**Author's Note:**  This might be my favorite chapter. It has the right amount of silly and awesome. Things are just going to get less silly from here. Zack and the Struggle Coordinator were way too much fun to write though. My beta actually forgot about the scene where Zack asks out Aqua and thought I was making it up and that Aqua's reaction there was ooc. I informed him it was canon-ish. She actually stutters more in canon. ;)


	5. 5th Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

_She was once again standing in the white room. This time the sketch book was open to a new page. Looking down she saw that it also featured Terra, Aqua and Ventus. The picture was divided into three sections, Terra on the left, Aqua in the middle and Ventus to the right. Terra was collapsed in the middle of a field of flowers and had changed slightly, his hair silver instead of brown. Behind him stood an ominous black shadow, its eyes glowing like burning coals. On the right side Ventus was sitting slumped on a large white chair. He was in a white room, silvery chains crisscrossing the blank background every so often. He was sleeping, a deep sleep that he might never awake from. In the middle was Aqua, falling head first into a black abyss, her eyes also closed as the darkness tried to engulf her._

" _So, what're we going to do?" said a male voice from behind her. She turned around and saw Roxas standing there, a worried expression on his face._

" _We're going to save them all."_

* * *

**5th** **Day**

* * *

Aqua woke up, no less confused than the day before. A shower didn't take away the mental weariness she felt. Too much was happening too fast and she had no idea what any of it meant. She ate breakfast quietly while Ven complained loudly about the homework assignment he'd forgotten he'd had.

"And I need to write an essay about any topic that I've researched over the summer," he said. "What am I supposed to write about on short notice?"

"You could go to the library and browse for topics," suggested Terra.

"That'll take all day to find anything interesting!" complained Ven. He turned to look at Aqua, a pleading look on his face. "Come on! You two are in college, there has to be something you can think of."

Aqua looked up from her food. "You could research a mystery in the town or something," suggested Aqua.

"That could work," said Terra. "You could go and investigate the 'Seven Mysteries of Twilight Town'."

"That sounds interesting," said Ven, getting excited. "So, can you two help me investigate these mysteries?"

"Sure," said Terra, agreeing readily.

Aqua suddenly felt unsure about walking around investigating random mysteries. It had been her suggestion but the mysteries she'd been thinking about were more personal and not something she felt she could share with even her two best friends. "Sorry, I'll have to pass. I have somethings that came up suddenly that I need to deal with."

"Aw…" said Ven, looking downcast. "I was hoping we could do it together…"

"Just leave her alone," said Terra. "If Aqua's busy then she's busy. This is what you get for saving this until the last minute."

Aqua flashed Ven a smile. "Cheer up! It can be a boys' day out, just the two of you!"

"Ok," said Ventus, cheering up a bit. "That does sound like fun."

"This isn't about fun," chided Terra, a smile on his face despite his words. "This is about getting your homework done!"

"Aw…" sighed Ven. Aqua couldn't help it, and cheering up briefly started to laugh, just like she had many times before. Terra joined in and soon even Ventus was laughing with them.

* * *

After breakfast Terra and Ven headed out to explore the seven mysteries of the town. Aqua cleaned up the dishes, taking her time and trying to gather her thoughts. First to consider were the dreams. They'd started with her, Ven and Terra, but in different clothes and under a different sky, that much she knew for sure. Then there had been the image of the older versions of Sora, Riku and Kairi. She played with the kids often when they weren't at school. That didn't explain why she was dreaming about them though…

"Wait a minute," muttered Aqua, putting down the dish she'd just dried. It occurred to her that she hadn't seen the kids since the dreams had started. So, deciding there might be a connection there she finished up the dishes quickly and left the house. Kairi's house was next door with Sora's house being directly across the street from Kairi's and Riku's house next to Sora's.

Aqua went to Kairi's house first and rang the doorbell. She waited outside for a moment and then rang the bell again. This time she realized something, there was no sound from the doorbell. She considered that maybe it could only be heard inside but something about that seemed wrong to her. So she knocked loudly on the door, waiting another minute. Nothing.

"That's strange," muttered Aqua. She knocked again, louder this time but she realized that maybe no one was home. After waiting another moment in the vain hope someone would answer she walked over to Sora's house. She rang the bell and the same pattern repeated itself. After knocking a second time there was still no reply. She moved on to Riku's house, not feeling confident that anyone would answer. Her feeling was proven right as she once again waited outside in vain.

"Where is everyone?" wondered Aqua aloud. As she said it something occurred to her. Looking around she realized that there was no one on the street. There hadn't been anyone on the street since she'd started knocking on doors either. Things were getting weirder and Aqua hoped that it was all just a coincidence and she was just jumping to wrong the conclusion. She remembered the street being bustling with activity constantly. She was starting to doubt her memory though.

 _What should I do?_  wondered Aqua.  _It's not like I can just break into the houses for signs about whether anyone lives there or not._  As she had the thought though by whatever magic it worked under the keyblade from the day before appeared in her hand in a flash of light. As she marveled at the fact that she surely had to be going crazy, the keyblade tugged slightly against her grip, as if it wanted to go lead her somewhere.

Aqua allowed her hand to move with the keyblade and pointed it at Riku's front door. A small beam of light shot out of the tip of the keyblade and went into the lock. There was a clicking noise and the door creaked open. Lowering the keyblade Aqua pushed open the door and walked in. She nearly dropped the keyblade in surprise as she saw that the house was completely empty on the inside, no signs that anyone had ever lived in it. She checked every room but there was nothing. A chill overcame her but she ignored it.

Walking back outside Aqua went to Sora's house and unlocked his door also. Inside it was just like Riku's house, empty. She could feel panic rising in her as she went over to Kairi's house and held the keyblade shakily up to the door. Pushing open the door she was greeted with an empty house once again. She could feel her spirits dying, her memories of playing with the kids had seemed so real earlier that morning, but now they seemed to be made of mist, disappearing without a trace as she went to recall them. Aqua trudged wordlessly through Kairi's house, knowing she wouldn't find anything but unsure of what to do otherwise. She walked upstairs to the room she thought had been Kairi's and turned the door knob. Pushing the door open slowly she was greeted by something she hadn't expected.

"Hello," said the girl sitting in front of her, her legs crossed as she sat on a snow white chair. She had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes that reminded Aqua of Kairi's. The girl was wearing only a thin white summer dress and a pair of white sandals. The room itself was the same from her dreams, with the white walls, crayon drawings and a white table in the middle. On the table was laying the sketch book from her dreams, closed.

As Aqua just gaped at her surroundings the girl just had on a friendly smile, sitting quietly to allow her time to take in her surroundings. Trying to find something solid to focus on she focused on the girl and after swallowing managed to find her voice. "This is from my dream…"

"Yes, it is," said the girl simply.

After hearing her voice for a second time Aqua realized something. "You were the voice, from that time against the shadows, the one that told me to pick a door."

"I was," confirmed the girl.

"And you're the one who was in my dream last night, talking to Roxas. I was seeing that dream through your eyes, wasn't I?"

"Correct!" said the girl cheerfully. "It was one of my memories. Crafting this space out of our memories helped to make it more solid, less easy to be intruded upon."

"None of this makes sense," replied Aqua.

No, I doubt it does," admitted the girl, "but I'll try to help you to make sense of it anyways. Let's start with introductions first, I'm Namine."

"Namine," muttered Aqua, trying the name out. It didn't ring any bells in her memory though. "I'm Aqua."

"You've already met my partner in all of this when he appeared before you yesterday."

"Roxas," confirmed Aqua. "Who is he? Why does he look like Ven?"

"Roxas's birth was different than a regular one," replied Namine. "Mine too. Neither of us are humans. We're beings called Nobodies."

"Nobodies?"

"Beings that are born when someone with a strong will dies. Their body becomes a new being with its own will, but without emotions. Even among Nobodies Roxas and I are different, born from a series of events that have been going on over the years in the Realm of Light. Events that are also tied to your past."

"What do you mean?"

"What is the last sketch you saw in my pad?" asked Namine, even though Aqua was sure she knew the answer.

"It had Ven, Terra and I," answered Aqua. "Terra was collapsed among some flowers and looked different. Ven was asleep on a chair in a white room and I was falling through darkness."

"A mad man by the name of Xehanort caused those events," said Namine. "He wanted Terra's body for his own, so he manipulated Terra and Ventus into carrying out his deeds. Terra rebelled at the last minute but Xehanort took his body anyways. Terra's will was strong enough that it caused this new being's mind to be in flux. You found and defeated him but in saving Terra briefly from the darkness you got swallowed instead. Where we are now is an illusionary world in the Realm of Darkness."

"That's insane…," said Aqua, although she found herself believing the story anyways. It made much more sense than the last few days had. "But what about Ven? What did his picture mean?"

"Due to Xehanort's scheming Ven's heart was forced out of his body and had to find refuge with another. Before confronting Terra you put Ven's body in a safe place that no one but you could find, even if they knew about it like I do."

"But how do you know all of this?" asked Aqua.

"I was born with an unusual amount of innate knowledge," answered Namine. "Through research I discovered even more."

"Wait, you said Ven's heart left his body, but where did it go?"

"A young child, one who was gifted with a heart of pure light and a blessing to help those in need, took in Ventus's heart. This is a child you met ten years ago in the Realm of Light, a boy named Sora."

"Sora…," muttered Aqua, a flood of emotions filling her with the name. Sora, the real Sora, was someone important to both her and the Realm of the Light, she could feel it.

"Sora has been nursing Ventus's heart, even long after he forgot he had it. When events led to Sora's brief death, three hearts that were contained in Sora were released. One was Sora's, one was Ventus's and the third was a girl named Kairi."

"Kairi…I know her…," said Aqua, emotions of joy and gratitude filling her.

"You saved her life once," said Namine. "Soon after she went to live in the same place as Sora. They became friends and embarked together, although unwillingly, on a long journey. Kairi lost her body, her heart residing inside of Sora for safe keeping. When he gave his life to release her heart it created two Nobodies instead of one. One of these was Roxas, who took the appearance of Ventus due to his heart's close proximity and the second was me. I was born with the power to manipulate the memory of those with a connection to Sora, the stronger the connection the stronger my powers. Your basic connection to Sora is what's allowing me to do all of this to help restore your memories."

"My memories?"

"When you fell into darkness I don't know how long you wandered before it took you, but the darkness brought you into a deep sleep, slowly eroding your memories. This dream world exists as a creation of mine to help restore your memories. It's created based on Roxas's own memories of his time in Twilight town. Using his memories as a guide, we've been slowly trying to wake up you heart and restore your memories."

"Why are you doing so though?" asked Aqua, trying not to feel overwhelmed. "What do you get out of this?"

"Sora is going around rescuing those who have fallen into darkness due to Xehanort's schemes. Roxas and I are just trying to make his job a little bit easier. The closer you are to the light, the easier it will be for Sora to rescue you. It is true that that isn't our only goal though. Other's had fallen into the darkness and needed rescue."

"Axel…," muttered Aqua, connecting the strange scene with this new information.

"Yes," confirmed Namine. "His heart was lost in the world of darkness. His nobody was a friend of Roxas's; best friends actually. We didn't expect to see his heartless here but once we did Roxas came bursting into the scenario to help you but mostly to free his friend's heart. This messed with our scenario a bit but Axel's heart is now headed without impediment to the Realm of Light, so the trade was probably worth it."

"What's a heartless?" asked Aqua, confused by the term.

"A heartless is the form taken by the darkness in someone's heart. When they die, a heartless is born. The stronger the person and darkness, the stronger the heartless. Sometimes they form together into groups to make stronger heartless. Those shadows you fought a few days ago were the weakest type of heartless, generally just called shadows. The only weapon that can defeat a heartless for good is a keyblade."

"A keyblade…,"' said Aqua. She held up her hand, her keyblade still firmly in her grasp. "What is this? Why do I have one?"

"A keyblade is an ancient weapon that can be used to lock or unlock anything. A door, a lock, the entrance to a world or even a person's heart. It chooses it's wielder but can be passed on by the worthy to the worthy. You used to be a keyblade master, trained under a master of your own with Terra and Ventus."

"Terra and Ventus were also keyblade masters?" asked Aqua.

"No, they never earned the title before Xehanort's plan ruined their lives."

Aqua just stood silently in the doorway for a moment, pondering everything she'd just been told. It was all so outrageous, so fantastic that it shouldn't be possible, but she could feel in her heart that it was. Namine's story also explained everything that had been happening the last few days, and why even though she knew she'd been living in Twilight Town all her life, she only had a vague, fuzzy memory of doing so. Aqua's gaze fell to her pendant at her waist and she reached out and touched it with her free hand. The pendant glowed blue and a memory surfaced in her mind. She was standing on a hill with Terra and Ventus, shooting stars passing by overhead. She was handing each of them one of the pendants, a wayfinder her memory reminded her, items she'd made so that they would always be connected, no matter where their paths led them.

The memory faded away and she looked up at Namine. "It's no coincidence I found this pendant in the store, is it?"

"I didn't put it there, if that's what you're asking," said Namine, "but no, it wasn't. I didn't plan it, but that pendant made its way to you on its own. It's quite a remarkable item. It connects you to your friends and it helped me in dragging you out of the darkness. If it hadn't appeared I'm not sure we'd be having this conversation right now."

"What do you mean?" asked Aqua.

Namine gave a tired sigh. "Someone or something unforeseen has been interfering, trying to draw you into the darkness. This force has been actively working against me and I think they're the reason Axel's heartless appeared at the tournament. It used the closeness of Roxas and Axel to insert him into the scenario to try to draw you back into the darkness. If you had lost there's no telling what would have happened to you. Which is why I allowed Roxas to interfere."

Aqua just studied Namine for a moment, now recognizing where she'd seen those blue eyes before. The blonde haired girl just sat calmly and quietly, but Aqua thought she looked a little nervous for some reason. "Now what do we do?" asked Aqua.

"Now," replied Namine. "we need to restore your memories. Your heart remembers and has slowly been reminding you, but if your memories aren't fully awakened you won't be able to fight at your full potential."

"How do we do that?" asked Aqua.

Namine frowned slightly. "I don't really know. My methods usually take time but I can feel that our time is running out. The scenario was supposed to take much longer to run its course, slowly reminding you of the past, but that's been undone due to all the interference that's been happening."

As Namine pondered the situation Aqua caught sight of something out of the window. She tried to get a glimpse of it, craning her neck to look.

"I guess a large shock could restore your memories, but I don't know how we would do that…" mused Namine.

Aqua saw something flash violet out of the window and her heart told her she'd seen such a thing before. It compelled her to move instinctively, running over to Namine and hold her keyblade up in a defensive stance. "Get down!" she yelled to the surprised girl.

The world exploded, the house splintering and disintegrating around them. Aqua had gotten a barrier around them just in time but she could feel it straining against the strong destructive force that had hit them. Namine cowered in her seat, sketchbook clutched tightly in her hands. The floor around them splintered and cracked and they toppled from the second floor. Luckily Aqua's shield covered them from all sides in a circular force field of shiny hexagons. They crashed to the ground, the force of the impact straining Aqua even more but she managed to hold the shield. The blast subsided around them and Aqua saw that Kairi's house had been leveled, no wreckage left on the empty plot. She released the shield, feeling the strain lessen slightly, replaced with the feeling of being completely and utterly drained.

"Impressive, little lady!" came a cocky and confident voice. A dark clad figure leapt into view, waving at the two girls. They were clad in a cloak like the one Axel had been wearing, all of their features obscured. In each hand they held a strange crossbow, the weapons she'd seen in the sketchbook in the hands of one of the people she'd been about to fight with Terra and Ventus. "I'd been charging that blast up for several minutes. Maybe I waited too long? No matter, you don't look like you could walk let alone swing that keyblade of yours!"

"Aqua, are you okay?" murmured Namine worriedly behind her. Aqua ignored her though, focusing on the figure in front of her.

"Who are you?" asked Aqua, trying to get her heavy breathing under control. Her mind felt foggy from sudden fatigue and she wasn't sure that she could disprove the figure wrong and lift up her keyblade, let alone fight with it.

"Me? I'm hurt that you've forgotten me already!" said the figure in mock surprise, holding a hand up to their heart. "It's not like it's been that long, only what, ten years? More? You haven't aged a day though it seems."

"You're not answering the question," said Aqua.

"Oh right!" said the figure, as if they'd honestly forgotten that a question had been asked. They lifted a hand up and pulled off their black hood. Underneath was a man with dark, shoulder length hair that was slicked back. He had a scar on his face and an eye patch covering one eye. His free eye was golden though and he wore a sinister smile. "Does this ring a bell?"

"No," replied Aqua, although she could feel in her heart that she should recognize this person; as an enemy.

"Well, that's disappointing," said the man with a shrug. "I mean, after I made your and your friends' lives a living hell I'd think you'd be able to remember old Braig." Braig looked past Aqua to Namine as if he'd only just noticed her. A cruel smile appeared on his face. "And what do we have here! A little missy who's way in over her head! What are you here for little missy?"

"None of your business," said Namine defiantly. Braig seemed to find this hilarious though and just started to laugh.

"As if! You're trying to get to something I'm guarding, how is that not my business? Plus, you're trying to steal away one of the boss's toys and already freed that poor, hopeless wretch Lea. This is SO TOTALLY my business!"

Braig held up one of his crossbows suddenly, pointing it at Namine. He fired, a violet crystal flying out of the weapon and heading straight towards the blonde haired girl. Aqua struggled to move between Namine and the attack and managed to deflect it at the last second with her keyblade. Braig just continued to smile at them.

"Hey, what do you know? I was right! You can hardly move right now, can't you? Plus that little girl can't fight I bet. You two are sitting ducks! This'll be so easy."

"I won't let you harm her," declared Aqua forcefully. "And you won't beat me either. I'll take you down!"

"As if!" laughed Braig. He held up both of his crossbows and pointed them at Aqua and Namine. The tips started to glow and a large violet crystal started to form and glow between the tips. It got larger and larger, glowing more intensely with each passing second. Aqua's mind raced as she tried to figure out what she should do. Should she charge forward and leave Namine unprotected or just wait and try to beat that blast somehow? Could she pick up Namine and run away? Braig made up her mind for her though, firing the large crystal directly at them. "Take this!"

Aqua held up her keyblade in a defensive stance and concentrated on summoning the energies to form a barrier. The barrier popped into place right before the crystal struck it. The resulting explosion shattered the barrier, flinging Aqua and Namine backwards. Aqua collapsed on the ground with a grunt. Struggling to raise her head she saw Namine also on the ground, lying still, the sketchbook still held tightly in her hands. She heard footsteps approaching and saw Braig standing directly over her, a crossbow pointed right at her head. She tried to rise to fight, but couldn't manage to move.

"Too bad," laughed Braig. "I guess I just made you a liar. Once I take you out, there'll only be a retired old coot as the last remaining keyblade master. You're a dying breed. I don't really know who the kid is, but I know she's here to steal, so she'll be punished too."

"No…," muttered Aqua. She had to get up, she had to fight! Namine was counting on her. Ven and Terra were counting on her, she had to make it back to the Realm of Light to rescue them! A crystal started to charge in Braigs crossbow as if in slow motion. Her vision was replaced with a sudden blue glow, a warm light filling her. Memories flooded her mind, memories too vivid and important to ever be fake. She saw Terra and Ven smiling at her, wayfinders in hand. She saw Master Eraqus's proud expression as he deemed her a keyblade master and she felt her own sadness as she picked up his keyblade, Master Keeper, from the spot that he'd been killed in. She saw Zack, the real Zack asking her on a date as Hercules watched the spectacle, confused about why her face was turning red. She received flowers from Kairi, felt the potential in Riku and asked Sora to watch over his friend no matter what. Master Yen Sid, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Queen Minney, Stich, Peter Pan, Tinker Belle, and so many more filled her mind, and filled her with strength. She wasn't alone, even while trapped in the Realm of Darkness. She was going to make it out alive, meet everyone one more time and thank them for helping her in her journey.

Lastly, Aqua's mind was filled with the hateful image of Vanitas, the dark side of Ventus made real. He'd tormented them throughout their journey and possessed Ven, forcing his heart into hibernation. He'd been a difficult foe, but Aqua had learned a few tricks while fighting him. As the crystal moved at her in slow motion she cast a spell and infused her body with magical energy. When the crystal struck where she'd been lying she was long gone.

"What?" asked Braig, confused. He looked around, trying to find her, but saw nothing. "Where'd she go?"

"Up here!" yelled Aqua, swinging her keyblade down at Braig. He managed to leap backwards but the blade still sliced through the front of his cloak. He looked down at his torn cloak as Aqua stood facing him, finally ready for a fight.

"I really liked this coat!" grumbled Braig. The coat combusted suddenly and burned away, leaving Braig wearing the grey uniform of a Radiant Castle guard. "I hope you're ready for some retribution!"

"Bring it on!" yelled back Aqua.

Braig disappeared suddenly, teleporting to Aqua's left. As he reappeared he fired several quick shots from his crossbows only to find that his target wasn't there. He barely dodged to the side as Aqua appeared suddenly on to his right and attacked with her keyblade. He teleported again, this time into the sky above her and fired down.

Once again she was nowhere to be seen, even with his advantage of height. This left only one place she could be and he turned around quickly to look up into the air and fired without even confirming if she was there. She was above him, but his shots never hit her. Instead they hit a glowing orb that blocked the shots. Above him wasn't just one of the large orbs but several dozen, all floating ready to be used. Aqua floated in the air, concentrating on summoning the orbs.

"As if I'd let you!" yelled Braig, falling down from his position in the sky. He switched his crossbows to full automatic and released as many shots as he could as fast as he could. Many of the shots were blocked by the floating orbs but several made it past them and to Aqua. In a second she was gone again, teleported away he realized now. She reappeared just a few feet from where she had been and swung her keyblade. It hit one of the orbs and sent it flying towards him. As soon as she'd hit it she teleported to a second orb, launching that one also. Braig concentrated at the first orb flying at him and charging up a shot fired straight through the orb, causing it to detonate. He then switched to the second orb, destroying that one also.

By this point he was only seconds from the ground and he flipped slightly in midair and landed in a crouch on his feet. He launched himself away from the spot he'd landed, an orb striking and detonating the spot. Looking up he saw two orbs coming from different directions and he held up a crossbow at each. Charging energy through each he fired, piercing both orbs and causing them to detonate safely away from him. Braig back flipped, dodging another orb and rolled to his right to dodge yet another.

"I'm getting tired of this game!" he yelled, scanning the sky for more orbs. He saw that there were none left, but neither did he see Aqua. He turned around quickly and saw that she was right behind him, her keyblade glowing with a bright silver light. He tried to raise his crossbows to attack her but she swung too quickly, he magically powered strike hitting him with more force than she could manage on her own. The keyblade went straight through him, dissipating the dark energies that made up his body.

Aqua watched as Braig fell backwards onto the ground, his crossbows tumbling out of his hands and shattering into thousands of little pieces. He looked up at her with his one eye, a rueful smile on his face.

"Looks like you got me again," he said. "I knew I should have listened to my own advice, never mess with a keyblade wielder. You know, I really wanted one of those blades for my own."

"You did all of this," said Aqua. "You caused all of this pain to my friends and I just to get a keyblade? That makes no sense."

"You have one, so maybe you don't get it, but those keyblades are at the top of weapons. The old coot promised me one so I worked for him. Plus I'll admit that I enjoyed messing with all of you. It was a bonus, definitely."

"You're sick," said Aqua.

"Maybe," admitted Braig. He looked past Aqua at something. Namine walked next to Aqua, sketchbook in hand. "How's it feel not having a heart?" he asked the blonde haired girl."

"How does it feel to be a heartless?" asked Namine. Aqua saw that Braig's body was breaking apart into vapors of darkness and was just barely staying together as he talked to them.

"It sucks little missy," he laughed. "And getting my heart set free from darkness by a keyblade; that sucks also. It's who I am, it feels too weird feeling genuinely pleasant."

"Where are you keeping the prisoner?" asked Namine.

"The little experiment is in the deepest pit of darkness," said Braig, apparently knowing what Namine was talking about. "But I doubt they have long left to live. They're just a thought away from falling into a sleep they'll never wake from. Not like the thing was supposed to exist anyways. Take my advice, leave for the Realm of Light while you still have a chance."

Braig finally couldn't hold himself together any longer and with a gasp his body faded away, his heart flying free into the sky and disappearing. Aqua looked at Namine and saw that the blonde girl was frowning.

"What now?" asked Aqua, still processing her reawakened memories. She knew everything once again, but she felt it might take a while for her to fully process it all.

"I'm still not sure," admitted Namine. "He was right though, this is your last chance to flee. You might need to take it…"

"Why wouldn't we want to leave the Realm of Darkness?" asked Aqua. She realized that Namine was still keeping something from her. There was something, someone, she wanted Aqua to rescue, this "prisoner" Braig had been talking about. "You said earlier that you needed my help rescuing someone. At the time I thought you meant Axel but you also said he was a fortunate coincidence. Who is it you really want me to rescue?"

Namine gave a sigh. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" asked Aqua, confused. "Weren't you just talking to Braig about a prisoner? That sounds like you know who you're rescuing."

"No, I only know that there's someone in here, someone important who DOES need rescuing, not who they are. I don't even know a description, gender or name for the person beyond the fact that they're also probably wearing a black cloak."

"Why don't you know?"

"Because the person doesn't really exist," replied Namine. "If Roxas and I are unique existences, this person is even more unique. All I know is that they existed briefly in the realm of light, for a couple months, befriended Roxas and Axel and then disappeared without a trace. Their existence was even removed from Roxas's deepest memories. The only reason I know they exist is that I could see a gap in Roxas's memories when I looked through them at one point. All I know is that they're related to Sora and important."

"And you wanted me to find and rescue them since I was already in the Realm of Darkness," clarified Aqua.

"Yes," admitted Namine. "Plus you're very powerful, I can see that much from the battle you just fought. I figured if anyone could rescue this person, it'd be you. But this man is also right, you need to leave. I'm only a projection right now, solid but able to fade away at any moment. Once I do so though I probably won't be able to re-enter the Realm of Darkness like this again and this simulation Twilight Town will disappear. Already I think I'll need to leave any moment, events have drained me quicker than I'd hoped. You need to leave and get back to the Realm of Light before you get sucked up by the darkness again."

Aqua considered everything she'd just been told. A memory surfaced to the top of her mind as she did so. She was walking on a beach in the Realm of Darkness, dark water lapping at the show. She came to a group of rocks and saw a man in a dark cloak staring out onto the water. Approaching him they greeted each other; introducing themselves. The man turned out to be the former leader of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise. He'd explained how he'd ended up in the Realm of Darkness, his regret at the events that had led to his being there. Then he explained how much time had passed since she'd come into the Realm of Darkness after saving Terra's body. Finally he'd told her about a boy in the Realm of Light, a boy named Sora who had the power to save those who were lost in the darkness. Sora was on his way to save them, they could both feel it and Aqua had felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought that she'd soon be saved from her long imprisonment.

Recalling this memory, Aqua knew what her choice had to be. Tightening her grip around her keyblade, she looked at Namine. "How can I find them?"

"What?" asked Namine; confused.

"How can I find this person who's gone missing in the Realm of Darkness," clarified Aqua. "They need to be rescued before something bad happens to them."

"But something could happen to you while trying to free them!"

Aqua just smiled gently at the blonde girl. "I know, but I can't leave them. You went through all this work to try to rescue them, I won't let it go to waste. Plus, I know what it's like to be lost all alone in the Realm of Darkness, and I won't let anyone else suffer like that."

Namine looked like she was going to protest for a moment but then she finally just gave a deep sigh, a slight smile appearing on her face. She held out her sketchbook. "Take this, it should help you locate them; even through the darkness."

"Thank you," said Aqua, taking the sketch book. She felt a presence fill her with comfort and saw that Namine was starting to fade away.

"I have to leave you now, but as long as you have that, I'll always be by your side keeping you company, even if I can't help or speak to you. It will also lead you and the prisoner back to the Realm of Light. Good luck."

Namine faded away at that moment. All around Aqua cracks appeared in the sky, ground and buildings of Twilight town. Everything shattered and disappeared, leaving her on hard grey stone, darkness surrounding her on all sides. A glow emanated from her wayfinder, Namine's sketchbook and her keyblade. She could feel everyone she knew cheering her on, protecting her as much as they could. With renewed strength and confidence, Aqua walked down the stone road, confident that she was going in the right direction.


	6. Final Day

**Disclaimer:**  I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

_Everything was darkness, but as their eyes adjusted to the darkness they stared to see shapes. The shapes were all of differing colors, but all were the darkest possible shades of those colors. Purples, blues, and reds were most prominent but other colors appeared occasionally. In the darkness a bright shape walked with a purposeful stride. They could see short, light blue hair, bright blue eyes and clothes of varying shades of blue decorated with white. As the shape walked through the darkness they became more and more defined. They realized that the shape was a tall woman, with an athlete's body and an expression of determination of her face. That expression turned to surprise as the woman noticed something they didn't see and stopped walking. As she stopped a bright blue pendant tied around her waist shook slightly, a soft blue glow emanating from it. Holding out her hand a large keyblade appeared in her hand and she looked around cautiously._

_They noticed glowing red eyes appear in the darkness, eyeing the woman with a hungry look. The thing's body was shrouded completely in darkness, leaving only its eyes to show. Whatever it was it seemed like it had to be very, very large. As soon as they noticed it though, the thing moved into action, charging at the woman from the side. The woman looked right at the dark thing and rolled away, dodging at the last moment. The thing retreated into the shadows and darkness, disappearing as it circled its prey. The woman, instead of trying to track the thing, took a defensive stance, her keyblade held up parallel to the ground. Her other hand was stretched out also, its palm touching the teeth of the keyblade, bracing the weapon. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, waiting._

_The red eyes appeared once more, this time directly behind the woman. The thing charged from the darkness, a silent hunter making only the faintest of noises. Right as the thing bore down on the woman she acted, channeling magic suddenly. A dome shaped shield made of silvery hexagons sprung into existence right before the thing crashed into it, unable to avoid it so suddenly. The shield halted the thing's attack and confused it slightly. The woman quickly lifted her keyblade above her head so that it was perpendicular to the ground and gave a battle cry._

" _Rah!" yelled the woman. At her cry the shield blasted apart, the hexagons flying outwards in all directions. Several struck the thing, scoring solid hits on the darkness surrounding it._

_The woman turned around, swinging her keyblade with her arc of motion. The blade sliced through the darkness surrounding the thing, dispersing it. With the darkness gone the true form of the thing was revealed. It turned out to be a large creature that stood on four legs, the front two having chains wrapped around its ankles. It had a dark purple and black body with dark magenta spikes running down its back, as well as several of the tentacles surrounding its head. The monster also had a long tail, several spikes sprouting from it near the tip. Without the darkness its eyes were pure yellow instead of the glowing red from before._

_The monster charged at the woman with a roar, moving with surprising speed for something with such a massive bulk. It swiped at her with its claw but she reacted with equal speed, bringing her keyblade up to block the strike. The monster reared up on its back legs and swiped sideways with its free claw. In doing so the monster had let up the pressure slightly on the claw blocked by the woman so she managed to push the first claw away and back flipped to safety from the second. Landing in a battle stance she pointed her keyblade at the monster and fired a ball of electricity at it. The ball hit and exploded, sending sparks everywhere and pushing the monster backwards._

_The monster opened its mouth and with a roar shot out a ball of fire. The woman responded with an icy spear from the tip of her keyblade. The ice pierced the fireball, causing it to explode outward away from the woman. The monster gave another roar and spheres of darkness started to rain down on the battlefield. The woman expertly dodged the balls as they fell towards her. When they hit the ground they exploded into a field of dark energy that persisted, blocking off that area and limiting where the woman could continue dodging. Realizing that she was at a disadvantage the more of the balls that rained down, the woman went on the offensive._

_Jumping up into the air, when it looked like she was about to fall back down light appeared at her feet and she was propelled even higher. She flipped around so that her body was parallel to the ground and the light once again appeared at her feet. This time she used it to launch herself through the air in the direction of the monster. Several balls of darkness rained down in her way but she just fired bolts of light from her keyblade, intercepting and detonating the darkness before it could reach her. In an instant she was above the monster and flipped around so that she was at an angle to the ground. Light appeared at her feet once more and she was launched directly at the monster. Light surrounded her keyblade, extending past the edge of the blade to extend its reach. She slashed at the monster's back and the blade cut into, but not completely through, it._

_As she landed the monster roared in pain and tried to pounce on her, darkness leaking from its wound. Things moved as if in slow motion from there. The woman bent her knees, bracing herself for the attack. She raised her keyblade up in a defensive position and closed her eyes. Light surrounded her, glowing brighter and brighter, moving its way up her keyblade to. Then she opened her eyes and let out a battle cry._

" _Rah!" yelled the woman. The light moved out of her body to her right and left and formed two glowing white orbs. The orbs span quickly around her and raised up to meet the incoming foe. The orbs struck the monster and kept going, tearing straight through the thing. The monster crashed to the side next to the woman, spiral tracks torn into the monster from where the light had touched it. A pink glow appeared in the middle of the monster and a giant pink heart flew out of it and into the black sky, eventually disappearing into the darkness. The remains of the monster turned completely into dark smoke._

_The woman was once again left alone. She unsummoned her keyblade, turned, and continued walking in the same direction as before. As she walked further and further into the darkness she grew fuzzy, eventually disappearing from sight, swallowed up by the darkness._

* * *

**Final Day**

* * *

They woke up from the dream slowly, coming to consciousness with a lazy progression. First they became aware of the deafening silence that surrounded them. Silence so complete it proved a sharp contrast to the vivid dream with its fighting, yelling and roars. Next came the sense of being smothered by something warm, a feeling that covered both their body and mind, making them just want to continue staying still and inactive. They could only see darkness, but they realized that was because their eyes were closed. Their eyelids felt heavy and leaden, and the thought to open them took a long, unknown amount of time to make it from their mind to their eyes. They were greeted with darkness, but not the darkness of closed eyes; the darkness of the dream they had just woken from.

 _Were am I?_  they wondered. Then immediately a second question occurred to them.  _Who am I?_  They pondered and pondered these questions for what seemed like a long time, trying to get their mind to gather itself through the haze and deliver them the answers. Eventually, the answers surfaced, very slowly and gently to the top of their mind.  _I am…Xion._

The word meant nothing to them. They weren't even sure if it was a name for themselves or just a name for whatever they were. They tried to move their body and to their surprise it responded, although it didn't go far. Their movements were halted by some force before they even moved a centimeter. They realized they had two arms and two legs, all covered in a thick black cloak and all bound by something. Looking down they saw their legs were each restrained by glowing purple bands to a gray slab of rock. Looking up and twisting their neck as much as they could in both directions they noticed that their hands were bound in a similar fashion. In a rather detached and off-hand fashion they realized that they were splayed out in the shape of an X.

"What?" croaked a hoarse voice in confusion. It took a moment to recognize it as  _their_  voice.

"So, you're awake," said a deep voice. A tall figure materialized to the left of them and they wondered if they had appeared through magic or if the thick black cloak covering them from head to toe had just disguised them the whole time. The hood of the cloak bobbed up and down as the figure examined them. "I'm rather surprised that you woke up. Your heart should have fallen into too deep of a sleep to allow such. Maybe it's a resonance with our intruder?"

"What?" asked Xion; or they thought they were Xion. If they weren't this Xion person, why would that name have popped into their head? Or at least they thought Xion was a name of a person, or at least a name for something. Either way, they decided that calling themselves Xion had to be easier than not having a name. Names were important after all…weren't they?

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," replied the cloaked figure dismissively. "It'll all be irrelevant soon anyways. You should just rest, go back to sleep."

"Who…am I?" asked Xion, feeling tired suddenly. Maybe the cloaked figure was right, maybe they should just go back to sleep. They were restrained and couldn't move anyways. Plus, trying to remember things was surprisingly difficult and tiring…

"A figment, a mirage, something that shouldn't exist," replied the cloaked figure with such a dispassionate, clinical way that it was hard to take the words personally, they were just speaking the truth.

"That's wrong and you know it!" yelled a voice, ringing clearly through the darkness. Several meters to the right of Xion a portal of silvery light appeared. A figure walked out of the portal and to their surprise turned out to be the blue haired woman from their dream. She looked around with determined, clear blue eyes, her gaze settling on Xion for a moment before shifting to the cloaked figure. "Now, are you going to let them go?"

"I'm not a jailer," said the cloaked figure. "I'm merely an observer, watching the inevitable slide of entropy towards darkness."

"So, then you won't mind if I take her," said the woman, taking a step forward.

The cloaked figure stepped forward also, a hand raised up in a halting gesture. "I won't let you do that."

"I thought you said you were just merely an observer?"

"I am. But you, you aren't a player in this particular game either, so I can't let you interfere."

"What if I want to join the game?" asked the woman.

"Then I will have to join in to even the field," replied the cloaked figure. Suddenly in their outstretched hand appeared a keyblade made of a combination of black and silver metal. The hand guard was made of two bat wings and above it was a demonic face with ominous blue eyes. From there the blade jutted out, formed from two jagged struts that culminated in an axe like blade, a demonic blue eye in the center of it.

The blue haired woman's eyes widened slightly as she eyed the keyblade. "How do you have that weapon?" she asked.

"This weapon is only a copy of the original, but it is strong enough for my purposes," replied the cloaked figure in the vague manner that seemed to Xion to be the only way they spoke.

"Who are you?" asked the woman.

"I'm part of what's left, but definitely not all that there ever was," replied the cloaked figure. They brought their free hand up and grabbed the edge of their hood. They pulled the hood back, finally revealing their features. It was a man, or at least, Xion thought they were a man. The man was rather young, but had clearly mature features. He had spiky brown hair and clear blue eyes that seemed a strange fit for the stern expression on his face. The blue haired woman just glared at him, not seeming amused with this revelation.

"You're not the real Terra," said the woman, seeming to recognize the man, or at least who he looked like apparently. "Who are you really?"

"You hurt me Aqua," replied the man, smiling a hollow smile. "I've been with you these last several days as your dear friend yet you come out and automatically accuse me of being a fake? Would you be giving Ventus the same treatment?"

At his words another cloaked figure appeared at the man's side, this one much shorter than the 'fake' Terra. The new figure pulled back their cloak to reveal a teenager with messy dirty blond hair and blue eyes that were framed by an expression of sadistic cruelty.

"Come on Aqua, don't you remember who your best friends are!" cried the newcomer, failing at sounding sincere. "I'm hurt, I really am."

Aqua studied the two for a moment before speaking up again. "I know who you two are now. You're just remnants of the darkness of Xehanort and Vanitas, just like Briag was."

"Very astute," complimented Xehanort. As he spoke his hair turned white and his eyes started to glow and turned amber. "Although maybe if you had shown that intuition earlier you wouldn't be in this situation."

"I'm not complaining," commented Vanitas. His eyes also changed from blue to amber but instead of going white, his hair turned pitch black instead. "This means I just get to torment you again. More fun for me."

"I still don't want to fight you two," said Aqua. "I just want you to stand aside as I take that person from behind you out of the darkness."

"Haven't you been listening?" asked Vanitas incredulously. He pointed at Xion. "This thing isn't a person. It doesn't belong in the Realm of Light. Just let it fade away into the darkness and be forgotten, it isn't worth the effort otherwise."

"Why don't I ask them instead?" replied Aqua. She looked straight at Xion and it felt like she could see past the darkness of their hood. "Do you want to go home to the Realm of Light with me?"

Home. A simple word but one that struck Xion deeply for some reason. They didn't remember having a home, only vague recollections of a place they'd stayed at. Images of pure white walls and long empty halls filled their mind. The images were desolate but they still felt safe, they were a place to belong. Others had also lived there, but their faces were still obscured when Xion tried to remember them. Something told Xion that their old home was no longer, but Aqua had said the word as a reassurance. She would get Xion out of there if they wanted and home, even if she had to find them a new home.

"This is foolish," commented Xehanort

"Yeah," agreed Vanitas. "Do you really expect this thing to answer that? Silence means no to you and yes to us."

"Yes…" croaked Xion, almost without thinking about what they were doing. No one had seemed to hear them though, so Xion tried to speak louder. "Yes…."

Vantis turned to face Xion, surprise on his face. "Yes?" he asked. "What the heck does that mean?"

"Yes…" croaked Xion again. "I…want to go home…"

"You heard them," said Aqua with a bright smile. "They're coming with me."

"They don't have a choice," replied Xehanort.

"There's always a choice," replied Aqua.

"Not for them or you," said Vanitas. He held out his hand and a vicious red and black keyblade appeared in his hand. He went as if to take a step and in the next moment he was suddenly gone. Xion blinked for a moment as the sound of clashing keyblades reached them.

Xion realized that Vanitas had appeared behind Aqua but the woman had managed to react in time and turn to block the strike with the keyblade that had magically appeared in her hand. Vanitas grimaced in frustration and tried to force his way past Aqua's guard but she seemed unmovable. Her stance was perfect, allowing her to block with ease. She glowed with a faint blue light that stretched to her keyblade. Aqua swung with her magic enhanced strength and sent Vanitas tumbling away.

Vanitas flipped through the air but managed to right himself right before he landed. Rage was written all over his face as he growled at Aqua. "That's it! I was going to give you a slow death, but now I don't care! You're just going down!"

Vanitas rushed back into action, running across the dark landscape back to Aqua. When he was just a few meters away from Aqua he disappeared suddenly again, reappearing instantly to Aqua's left this time. Instead of trying to awkwardly turn around to block the incoming strike Aqua just held out her free hand and a barrier sprung into place, reflecting the attack. Vanitas grunted and disappeared again. This time Xion failed to see him but Aqua seemed to somehow know where he was. She looked up and Xion followed. Vanitas was floating in the air, purple energy charging at the tip of his blade.

"Take this!" he yelled, releasing the energy. It covered the distance between the two combatants in an instant. Aqua rolled out of the way causing the attack to strike the ground, ripping a hole in it. But Vanitas wasn't done and the beam followed Aqua, tearing its way to her. The blue haired woman ran away from the beam, staying just barely ahead of it as he zigzagged her way around. Xion thought she was doomed to be caught and was surprised as Aqua pointed her Keyblade up at Vanitas and fired off several large shards of ice, while still staying ahead of the beam. The shards flew straight and true at Vanitas but right when they were about to reach him they struck a shield and shattered. A twisted smile appeared on Vanitas's face and he started to glow with more dark energy. While still keeping up the large beam, a barrage of small blasts of dark energy shot out of the translucent sphere that surrounded him and homed in on Aqua from all directions. Aqua held up her keyblade again and small points of light shot out of the tip, intercepting and destroying the blasts of darkness.

Xion thought that Aqua had a good chance of defeating Vanitas, despite everything he was throwing at her. This caused them to feel…excited. It wasn't a feeling they were used to, at least not one they remembered being used to. Maybe it had been, before they're been in the darkness. Either way, they were excited to witness Aqua'a victory and felt a flash of longing for a home and a brief flash of hope that they'd be experiencing it soon. Sadly, Xion had forgotten about something.

Aqua had apparently forgotten too as a large wave of darkness suddenly barred down on her from the side, blindsiding her and sending her sprawling to the ground. Vanitas let up his own attack and gently floated to the ground, a triumphant smile on his face. Xehanort for his part was impassive as he lowered his keyblade which was still letting off wisps of darkness from his attack. He walked slowly towards Aqua, each step crisp and precise.

Aqua tried to struggle to stand up but the attack had hit her too hard and she wasn't standing up fast enough. Now that Xion had felt hope and lost it, they felt another emotion; fear. Fear that everything they had been offered would be taken away. Fear that now they knew there was something different, a better life, they'd have to return to the old one. Fear that this person who had only come to save her, with no obvious personal gain for herself, would be killed. Xion couldn't agree with this, not anymore. It frustrated them, and terrified them and they couldn't just sit around for it.

Xion struggled against their bonds as if in slow motion, trying to break free from whatever they were attached to. No matter how much they pulled or force they exerted though, nothing so much as budged. Xion looked straight into Aqua's eyes, pleading with the woman who was slowly struggling to stand as two powerful enemies bared down on her. Aqua lifted up her keyblade in a swift motion and pointed it straight at Xion. Before anyone could react a beam of light shot out of the tip and struck Xion. Xion felt release as their bonds disappeared and they dropped to the ground to land in a crouch. Without even hesitating or marveling at their freedom, Xion rushed towards Xehanort.

"Raaaah!" yelled Xion. They didn't have a way to fight but they didn't care. They needed to help Aqua, that's all that mattered at the moment. Xion did wish they had a keyblade though, the weapons seemed useful and might actually even the battle. Suddenly, summoned by their wish a keyblade appeared in their right hand, this one a simple silver bladed key with a yellow handle, a silver crown attached to the hilt by a keychain. Xion didn't even think twice about the gift and gripped it tightly with both hands, swinging at Xehanort.

Xehanort easily turned and parried the attack, sending Xion stumbling backwards. Xion landed on their butt, letting out a surprised yelp, their keyblade tumbling across the ground away from them. Xehanort turned to fully look at them, disapproval on his face. "This would have been so much easier for you if you had just given up," he said, his voice managing a hint of sorrow even though he himself didn't look sad. "You could've had a peaceful death but now I'll just have to end your life myself. It will only hurt briefly though."

Xehanort raised up his keyblade to strike Xion and Xion held up their hands, hoping to defend themselves somehow. As the blade came down though Xion's eyes closed instinctively. So it was that they only heard a sudden cry of surprise and the clashing of metal. Xion opened their eyes and saw Aqua standing between them and Xehanort, her keyblade easily keeping his away. Her keyblade glowed and she managed to push him away, creating skid marks in the gray dirt. Behind Xehanort Vanitas was standing up from where he'd been knocked down, looking somehow angrier than before. A bright shield spring into place around Aqua and Xion, cutting them off from their enemies.

Aqua turned around and held out a hand to Xion. "Here, let me help you up," she said, smiling gently at Xion. Xion took the offered hand, standing up shakily. "Thank you for the help, it allowed me to get out of there safely and to you."

"I should be thanking you," said Xion, feeling hot in the face under their hood. "You came to rescue me and fought two of them."

"Not very well sadly," said Aqua ruefully. "So, I'm not sure this is the time, but I'm Aqua. What's your name?"

"I'm…Xion…" said Xion hesitantly. Aqua just nodded as she processed the name.

"Xion, a pretty name," replied Aqua. "Can you remove the hood?"

"I…don't know," said Xion, realizing that they had no clue what they looked like under the hood. All self-images in their mind was just a person heavily cloaked in a black cloak, indistinguishable from anyone else wearing the same clothes."

"It's not a real being," said Xehanort in his booming and commanding voice through the shield. "It doesn't have a real form, only what the viewer most wants to see. Even if it gives itself a name, it'll never be more than a reflection of a desire, never able to see itself as anything substantial."

"Shut up!" yelled Aqua angrily. She looked at Xion and then waved her free hand. Water formed into a piece of glass that Aqua held delicately in her hand. She offered it to Xion who avoided looking down at its surface once they realized what it was. "Take this. I want to know what you see."

"You'll see nothing," said Xehanort confidently. "You are nothing."

"You are you," assured Aqua. "And you're real. Now, please, tell me what you see."

"This is a waste of time!" said Vanitas. He pointed his keyblade at the shield and fired a bolt of darkness. The attack dissipated on the shield, leaving no visible effect. He just scowled and fired again, again with no effect.

"That's a waste of energy," said Xehanort, holding up a hand in front of Vanitas. "Much like showing a reflection a mirror."

"Just tell me what you see," insisted Aqua. "Please Xion."

Something about hearing their name struck a chord for Xion. Their hesitation disappeared, mostly, and they slowly took the mirror with one hand and gazed into its surface. Xion just saw a person in a cloak, and knew what had to be done. Hesitantly they reached up with their free hand, gripped the edge of their hood and pulled in back. Xion was surprised by what they saw below. It wasn't the darkness they had feared but instead was a mob of messy, short black hair and a pair of large, bright blue eyes. Xion's features were fairly androgynous, and looked to be fairly young, still developing and they couldn't tell a gender. Something clicked in their head though as Xion stared in the mirror. Female, she was  _female_. She didn't know where the thought came from but as soon as it did, how she thought of herself changed instantly. The other change was a physical one and she realized that under the cloak she had very small, still developing breasts. She wondered where these changes had come from, and why they seemed so familiar. Xion held up her hands and the mirror disappeared, replaced with her keyblade. Suddenly the keyblade glowed and split into two, a keyblade resting comfortable in each of her hands. One was black and long and the other shorter and silvery-white.

"Oblivion and Oathkeeper…" marveled Aqua. "Those are Roxas's keyblades."

The words struck a chord for Xion and suddenly memories came flooding into her mind. Names; Organization XIII, Xenmas, Vexen, Xigbar, and so many more, but the two that struck out were Axel and Roxas. Memories of the two sprung into mind, she knew instantly who they were, what they looked like and that they had been her best friends. Images of sitting on the clock tower in Twilight Town after a mission, eating Ice cream and just talking about themselves. She also remembered when she'd found out what she was, a clone of a boy named Sora, and the wreck her life had become afterwards, slowly fading away into the darkness, everyone else forgetting she'd even existed.

"You…know Roxas?" asked Xion, trying to process her returned memories.

"He's the one who asked me to find and rescue you," said Aqua.

"He remembers me?" asked Xion hopefully.

"No," said Aqua sadly shaking her head. "He didn't, but he did know that there was someone he'd forgotten, someone important to him that needed help. He might not remember you, but he still cares."

Xion felt tears coming to her eyes at those words, overloaded with emotion. "And Axel?"

"I saved his heart from the Realm of Darkness before coming here, he'll also be waiting for you!" said Aqua confidently.

"This is touching and all, but are you ready to surrender?" asked Vanitas, sounding like he was going to throw up.

"One last chance, just let us leave and no one has to get hurt," said Aqua firmly.

"You are not in a position to make demands," said Xehanort. He lifted up his keyblade and dark energy started to collect quickly around the blade. With a loud yell he swung the blade at the shield, shattering it and sending Aqua and Xion flying backwards through the air. They managed to land on their feet, Aqua much more gracefully than Xion. The blue haired woman rushed forward and engaged Xehanort who had wasted no time in chasing after them. Their blades clashed loudly and furiously and the two fought a battle that Xion doubted she could even keep up with.

Vanitas also sprang into motion, charging at Aqua to try to outnumber her. Xion gripped her keyblades tightly and leapt forward, determined to stop him. "No you don't!" she yelled. She covered the distance between them in an instance and swung with Oblivion. Vanitas stopped his charge and blocked with his keyblade, scowling at her. Memories of how to fight rushed back into her mind and she swung in with Oathkeeper, forcing Vanitas to leap backwards to dodge it.

He didn't even land on the ground before he teleported away. Xion was barely able to react in time as Vanitas swung at her from behind. She rolled forward, coming to her feet and spinning around to face her foe. Sadly he had warped again and wasn't anywhere to be seen. This time Xion was ready and blocked the strike from her left side with Oathkeeper due to Vanitas being unfamiliar fighting someone with her fighting style. She wasn't braced properly though and was thrown to the side, landing on the ground in a heap. She rolled away as Vanitas appeared above her and swung down, releasing a burst of dark energy right where she'd been. Gray dust was kicked up from the attack but Xion just ignored it and jumped to her feet, preparing for the next attack. She needed to get off the defensive and on the offensive but she wasn't sure how. Vanitas helped to make the choice easier though as he jumped high into the sky.

"Let's finish this game of cat and mouse!" he yelled. Dark energy glowed around his keyblade and Xion realized what he was about to do. She didn't know how to shoot magic like Aqua had and if she did she was sure the shield from before would still stop it. This limited her choices severely. Vanitas fired the beam of energy and it tore into the ground as she ran as fast as she could, trying to keep ahead of the blast. She was surprised to find that she was actually keeping a good distance away from it, even gaining distance slowly. Xion wondered if Vanitas had used too much energy prior and was weaker now, but when she looked over her shoulder she saw that the trail of destruction he left definitely wasn't smaller. Before she could gain too much distance from Vanitas's attack small bolts of darkness started to rain down on her. Xion managed to dodge a few, quickly moving back and forth and scissored her keyblades through the air, slicing through several other bolts.

Xion was managing to keep up through the barrage but she wasn't sure how long she could do so. She considered trying to wait out Vanitas but he didn't seem to be tiring either. It occurred to her that they were in the Realm of Darkness and Vanitas was using dark energy. It was very likely that the Realm itself was powering him, leading to the chances of him running out of energy any time soon much lower. She needed to reach him up in the sky but she didn't have any ranged attacks and she couldn't fly or jump that high. Or could she….

Xion leaned forward and pumped her legs faster, trying to see how fast she could go. She started to outrun both the energy beam and bolts raining down on her. It occurred to her that she was faster than Aqua had been and Vanitas was having a hard time keeping up. But doing so drained her, and she was unused to fighting after a long absence of doing so. So she ran as hard as she could and then as she stepped down with her penultimate foot she jumped, flying high into the air. She managed to only get roughly halfway the distance to Vanitas, but it had just been a test. She flipped through the air and landed on her feet again, continuing to run immediately.

She prepared to try again, running straight towards Vanitas this time. She built up speed and deflected the bolts coming at her, no longer dodging for fear of a loss in speed. The energy beam bared down on her but she ignored it. All her focus was on her jump. She stepped with her penultimate foot and then flew into the air. This time she got further than half way, but still not close enough to attack directly. Luckily getting into the air had only been half of her plan. Cocking back her right arm Xion threw Oblivion at Vanitas. The keyblade became a spinning black disk as it flew through the air. As she fell back down Xion came into the path of the energy beam but she just held Oathkeeper in front of her and tried to remember what it had felt like to be protected by Aqua's shield. It worked, a weak shield forming between her and the beam. Her shield was strained as she was flung towards the ground, but luckily it didn't have to hold for long. Oblivion finally reached Vanitas and struck his shield. It went straight through the shield, shattering it to Vanitas's surprise. He didn't have time to get out of the way as the blade went straight through him.

The energy beam disappeared but Xion was too drained to do anything as she struck the ground, hard. The wind was knocked out of her and she was unable to move and she laid on her back. Vanitas landed on the ground a ways away and Xion watched as his body disintegrated into darkness, not even leaving behind a heart like the monster in her dream. She struggled to stand, knowing that Aqua was still fighting Xehanort and might need her help, never mind that she was too tired to even do anything. But instead she was just stuck on the ground, unable to move.

 _Well, I did it,_  thought Xion tiredly.  _I hope this isn't it though. I've never felt so drained before in my life, although I guess I haven't really lived that long either. I'd have liked to live longer. It'd have been nice to return to the Realm of Light and see Roxas and Axel again. I wonder if since I remember them they remember me again? Would I have to remind them who I am or would I somehow have to befriend them again. I hope we can still be friends again…_

Xion her foot steps and turned her head to try to see who it was. She was excited to see Aqua walking towards her, a triumphant look on her face. Behind her she saw Xehanort, kneeling on the ground his body disintegrating into darkness, also not leaving a heart behind. Aqua had two keyblades in hand, one her large green keyblade, the other Oblivion, wisps of darkness still on it from having cut Xehanort down. Aqua pointed her keyblade at Xion and green energy shot from the tip to her. Xion felt her energy restored, at least enough to stand. She stood up slightly shakily with the help of Oathkeeper, using it for support. Aqua walked over and handed her Oblivion, a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you for the assist," she said as Xion took the keyblade back from her. "With the help of your keyblade I was able to defeat Xehanort. He was almost impossibly powerful here in the Realm of Darkness."

"Thanks," said Xion, blushing slightly. "But that wasn't on purpose, I was just desperate to try to beat Vanitas."

"Planned or not, you still helped me out and that's all that mattered," said Aqua.

Xion looked around at the now empty area, darkness obscuring the edges of it from her sight. "Since this is the Realm of Darkness, could they just return somehow?" she asked

"No," replied Aqua. "Since we killed them with our keyblades they've been defeated for good and we don't need to worry. They were shades anyways. Not true beings, or even heartless, just lingering darkness and resentment given form. Vanitas's heart belongs with Ven and is in safe hands and Terra's heart is still somewhere in the Realm of Light, waiting for someone to save him."

"So, now what?"

"Now," said Aqua with a large smile and extending her hand to Xion. "We head home to the Realm of Light, together."

Xion didn't even hesitate as she unsummoned her keyblades and took Aqua's hand.


End file.
